CATS MAINTAIN HOODOO OVER HAWKS, INTO FIFTH STRAIGHT PRELIMINARY FINAL
Ben Jensen 10 September 2011

By Ben Jensen twitter.com/thecattery GEELONG CATS v HAWTHORN HAWKS GEELONG smashed Hawthorn tonight to reach their fifth Preliminary Final in a row, taking their foot off the gas to win by 31 points and ensuring at least one punter collected a cool $70 profit. MCG specialists Tom Hawkins and James Podsiadly teamed up with big man Brad Ottens for seven goals between them, while in one of two tragedies of the night Dan Menzel kicked two in the first quarter but did his anterior cruciate liagament (ACL) in his knee in the second quarter. He is all but certain to be out for 9 to 12 months, along with Lance 'Buddy' Franklin who also did an ACL late in the game. The game was played at a cracking pace, and was a genuine contest until Geelong final broke free of Hawthorn

As we write just after midnight several Geelong stars, stuck on the West Gate Freeway due to a bit of a pile up, are tweeting their frustrations along with more than a few fans. The Cats now have a weekend off and are likely to face West Coast in a prelim final but could in theory face any one of Collingwood, Essendon or Carlton. The Hawks meanwhile must regroup and take on St Kilda or Sydney without their spearhead Franklin. Full match report to come tomorrow.

GEELONG: 2.0 7.2 12.6 14.14 (98) DEFEATED
HAWTHORN: 3.5 4.8 7.12 9.13 (67)

GOALS
GEELONG: J Podsiadly 3 B Ottens 2 D Menzel 2 T Hawkins 2 J Bartel J Hunt M Stokes S Johnson T West
HAWTHORN: L Franklin 4 L Hodge 2 C Rioli I Smith J Lewis

BEST
GEELONG: B Ottens P Chapman J Kelly C Ling S Johnson J Podsiadly
HAWTHORN: L Hodge L Franklin L Shiels I Smith G Birchall B Sewell

INJURIES
GEELONG: Dan Menzel (knee - ACL)
HAWTHORN: Lance Franklin (knee - ACL)

UMPIRES:

FIELD: Chris Donlon (1) Mathew Nicholls (15) Shaun Ryan (25) EM: Justin Schmitt (17)
BOUNDARY: Mark Foster Justin Bennison Chris Gordon John Morris
GOAL: Mark Canning Chris Appleton EM: Jason Venkataya

CROWD: 73,400 at MCG, Melbourne