Hawthorn have turned the tables on Geelong in fitting fashion, coming back from a seemingly hopeless position to beat the Cats for the first time since the 2008 AFL grand final and reach this year’s decider.
The Cats had produced comebacks time and again during their 11-game winning streak against Hawthorn.
This time, it was the Hawks who came back from 20 points down at the last change to win a classic preliminary final 14.18 (102) to 15.7 (97) in front of 85,569 fans at the MCG on Friday night.
They buried their Cats hoodoo with a 4.8 to 1.1 last quarter, almost shooting themselves in the foot with the inaccuracy that dogged them all night, as they ended with 10 more scoring shots than Geelong but snuck home by just five points.
Geelong’s Travis Varcoe had a chance to tie the game with a little more than 20 seconds to play, but his 30m shot was just off target.
Veteran midfielder Sam Mitchell was outstanding all night for the Hawks with his constant ball-winning, amassing 38 disposals and 11 clearances.
Shaun Burgoyne was also superb with his poise with the ball and three goals, including the snap which put the Hawks in front in time-on in the last quarter.
Steve Johnson was brilliant for the Cats, with four goals to go with his excellent midfield work and 32 disposals.
The Hawks’ win sets up a potential grand final rematch with Sydney – who downed Hawthorn in last year’s decider – or a clash with Fremantle, who face the Swans in the other preliminary final in Perth on Saturday night.