Geelong and Hawthorn have been playing on Easter Monday for 15 years now and have turned in three or four of the best games of the era. Monday’s game perhaps won’t be remembered in those terms but it was an entertaining, high-standard, occasionally spiteful affair that ebbed and flowed all afternoon.
With a minute and a half to play, the Hawks were seven points adrift and their slim hopes rested on James Sicily’s boot. Normally a sumptuous kick, he’d had some uncharacteristic shanks throughout the game, three of which had directly led to Geelong goals, and the most important kick of all went sailing out on the full. The professionally provocative Nick Watson had missed an easy shot shortly before. Indeed, Hawthorn had squandered a lot of chances throughout the game, especially in the first half. In contrast, after a comedy of errors, near misses and extreme pressure, Shaun Mannagh had dribbled home his third and ultimately decisive goal for the Cats.
Halfway through the second term Geelong were four goals the better and Hawthorn had to labour for every score. But they had skilful, diligent players on the wings and flanks who worked hard off the line, who are good decision makers and who used the ball well. And they gradually got their run and carry game going, streaming down the middle of the MCG in three or four lanes. When they’re in that mode, it’s like watching a swimming squad training session. They used overlap handball to great effect and had the Geelong defenders on their wrong leg.
But the Cats held their nerve. At their best under Mark Thompson and for a large chunk of Chris Scott’s tenure, they were a team that was predictable to one another and to those watching them. But this current iteration is always pulling moves, attempting kicks and looking for angles you don’t expect. It’s such a different Geelong side now – quicker, craftier, and harder running. For so long under Scott, they were a team of big bodies that moved the ball cautiously. In about 24 months, that’s flipped. They’re an athletics team now.
It’s personified by Bailey Smith, who was excellent again on Monday. He runs like a maniac, to the point where you wonder if he’s wasting energy. But he keeps hammering away and gets better the longer the game goes on. He does everything at a blazing intensity, as demonstrated by his second quarter brain fade out on the Shane Warne Wing, when he whacked Jarman Impey in the face with the Sherrin, an unusual act from an unusual young footballer. And despite being new to the club, he quickly bought into the intense rivalry between the two clubs, winding up the massive crowd at every opportunity. He’s never played in front of a crowd that big, and he was right at home on the stage.
There were the usual Easter Monday flashpoints, including a roundhouse right from Conor Nash that knocked Gryan Miers senseless. The small Geelong man had been at his inventive best in the first half, but the savage hit had him tottering off drunkenly, and will surely earn the Irishman a lengthy suspension.
It was the pick of the nine games but there was some outstanding football played over the Easter weekend, including Richmond’s upset, Nick Daicos’ slashing game, the form of Carlton and Melbourne and the return of Marcus Bontempelli.
But it was blighted by the serious knee injury to Sam Darcy, who buckled like a thoroughbred toppling over a hurdle. He has been compared to Paul Salmon, whose career was derailed in a very different incident in 1984. Afterwards, he was flanked by Dr Garry Zimmerman, who’s about half his height, and who’s given the bad news to dozens of Bulldogs players over the decades, including his dad, nearly 20 years ago to the day. As soon as Darcy was felled, the Dogs went on a hot streak. As long as there is Bontempelli, there is hope. But you’d almost rather lose by 25 goals than win and lose a player of that calibre.
The following morning, the news was relatively and surprisingly good. Darcy has played just 34 games but he’s already established himself as one of the best players in Australia. Long-levered, even tempered and adept on both plains, he’s so good at reading the ball in the air, sensing where it will drop, and using his negligible rump to outmanoeuvre some very strong defenders. He extends upwards like few others who’ve played the game, but he can also launch forward at packs. No one wants to fracture their knee, but when it comes to recovery time and the chance of recurring damage, it was the best possible scenario.
