Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron and Isaac Smith whoop it up after one of Smith’s three goals in the grand final. Photo: AFL MEDIA

GEELONG 20.13 (133) defeated SYDNEY 8.4 (52)

An emphatic premiership win is usually accompanied by talk of a dynasty beginning.

For Geelong and its ageing list, the brutal thumping of Sydney might ultimately prove to be something more like the end of an era.

But you get the feeling Chris Scott and his elder statesmen would relish the chance to tackle any lingering suggestions age is a barrier to them enjoying further success.

Saturday’s Cats were the oldest team in AFL/VFL history, with Isaac Smith one of 10 players aged 30 or over. The smiling wingman laughed at the remarkable statistic when it was put to him post-match.

“I love that,” 33-year-old Smith grinned as a fourth premiership medal (after three with Hawthorn) hung around his neck.

Smith’s 32 disposals, and five goals three goals had just seen him become the oldest Norm Smith Medal winner of all-time, narrowly ahead of fellow thirty-something Patrick Dangerfield in the voting.

Cats coach Scott, too, broke into a chuckle, and at one point referred to Smith as a “fossil”.

By that stage a two-time premiership coach, Scott smiled and relaxed, content in the knowledge that Geelong’s “contrarian” method of topping up its list in pursuit of short-term success, and doing it again and again, had finally paid real dividends.

“We knew we were taking some risks but we backed it in and trusted our people,” Scott said.

Scott has actively avoided reflecting on recent history this year when quizzed about Geelong’s run of finals near misses over the last decade.

It’s not relevant, he’s repeatedly claimed, but that heartbreak was an unavoidable storyline in September as the minor premier, dominant throughout the home-and-away season, advanced to a grand final.

Five preliminary final defeats and a grand final loss two years ago had raised significant doubts about whether the Cats’ list management method would ever pay off.

A team rebuilt on the run had remained in contention without managing to do quite enough to lift the ultimate prize. Exactly how heavily that weighed on Geelong, we’ll probably never know.

But within half an hour of the opening bounce at the MCG on Saturday afternoon it had become abundantly clear to the 100,024 fans on hand that the Cats were about to throw the proverbial monkey off their back.

Tom Hawkins twice rag-dolled Tom Hickey at ruck contests and snapped truly, resulting in the opening two goals, and Smith added another couple of majors as Geelong piled on half a dozen in the first quarter.

The Cats registered 11 scoring shots to Sydney’s one in that period and the early onslaught made for a 35-point advantage at quarter-time. Geelong stepped up and brought the heat, while the Swans froze on the big stage.

It got far worse for Sydney soon after the main break, when a pair of Tom McCartin errors led directly to Geelong goals.

The defender was caught holding the ball by Mitch Duncan and then saw his kick across goal intercepted by Brad Close. Smith added a third goal within six minutes of the restart and the margin blew right out as the Cats booted another six unanswered majors in the third quarter.

Dangerfield was superb with 26 disposals, nine clearances and a game-high 19 contested possessions. He also had a dozen score involvements, with only Smith (14) generating more.

Joel Selwood, too, was influential when the game was on the line. He racked up 26 disposals and kicked a superb bending goal in the final quarter, which drew tears from his family in the grandstand.

Renowned for the sort of toughness that often sees him charge into contests that leave him requiring stitches, Selwood showed his softer side in a pair of touching moments before and after the game.

The long-serving captain ran through the banner with former teammate Gary Ablett Jnr’s three-year-old son Levi, who suffers from a rare and degenerative disease. Later, he enjoyed a few moments of celebration with well-known Geelong fan Sam Moorfoot, who doubles as the club’s head water boy on its main training days.\

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There was also an emotional embrace with Hawkins on the siren, with the veteran pair and Mitch Duncan the only Cats left from the 2011 premiership. Duncan (27 disposals), Mark Blicavs (23) and Zach Tuohy (21) – all in the ‘Over 30s Club’ – had good days.

Tuohy and countryman Mark O’Connor joined former Sydney star Tadgh Kennelly (2005) as the only Irishmen to have won an AFL premiership. O’Connor was called into the team as the late replacement for Max Holmes, who was passed fit to play despite a hamstring ailment but deemed too big a risk for selection.

The 20-year-old wingman enjoyed a breakout season and would be forgiven for being heartbroken.

His absence also gave Brandan Parfitt a chance to feature as the medi-sub and he kicked a goal with his first disposal after replacing Cam Guthrie (hamstring) late in the match.

Tyson Stengle booted four majors, joining Hawkins and Smith (both three) and Jeremy Cameron and Close (both two) as multiple goal-kickers.

It completed Stengle’s redemption after his remarkable rise from Adelaide discard – due to multiple off-field indiscretions – through the SANFL to the Cats and into the All-Australian side.

Sam De Koning (20) was Geelong’s youngest player on the day and stood tall in defence, where Jack Henry held Lance Franklin goalless.

Franklin proudly announced his new one-year contract in the days leading up to the season decider but cut a frustrated figure as he copped a third grand final defeat with the Swans since his high-profile move from Hawthorn.

Franklin finished with just five disposals and 0.1, with his shot during the second term hitting the post from a narrow angle.

Chad Warner was the Swans’ only multiple goal-kicker and even Tom Papley couldn’t muster any sort of celebration by the time he booted a six-pointer during the final term, with the result well and truly beyond doubt.

Sydney’s blunders started well before the first bounce, when Sam Reid was picked despite concerns over an adductor injury. Coach John Longmire admitted as much later. But that wasn’t where his side lost the match, in which it was outplayed from the outset and was overawed on the big stage against a far more experienced opponent.

The Swans posted their lowest score of the season and were ultimately on the receiving end of the fifth-biggest drubbing in grand final history.

Warner (29 disposals, 10 clearances, two goals) and Luke Parker (23 disposals, 14 tackles) were among the few Sydney players who could hold their heads high.

It was a dark day for a club that had ridden a wave of momentum and goodwill from fans in the Harbour City to give itself a shot at a first premiership since 2012 – Longmire’s second season at the helm.

“We really let ourselves down and our supporters down, no question,” Longmire said. “From the first bounce the game looked as foreign as what we have played it this year. There was no element that we got right … we just didn’t give ourselves any chance whatsoever.”

Longmire conceded the Swans’ call on Reid was the wrong decision. The tall forward struggled from the get-go and managed just four handpasses before being substituted out of the game in the third quarter.

“We were obviously confident. That is why we picked him, but we made a mistake,” Longmire said.

Sydney can be optimistic about the future, buoyed by an energetic band of youngsters who might not have turned up when it counted this season, but could keep their club thereabouts for years to come.

Geelong, as it has made a habit of doing anyway, can keep the focus narrow as it celebrates a 10th AFL/VFL premiership.

The residents in Sleepy Hollow might not be getting much shut-eye over the next few days.

But once the party is over and the dust settles, and perhaps a retirement or two are announced, the Cats will get back to work proving their doubters wrong.