AFL 2017 FIRST SEMI FINAL - GEELONG CATS V SYDNEY SWANS; MATCH PREVIEW & TEAMS
Ben Jensen 14 September 2017

AFL FINALS 2017 FIRST SEMI FINAL: GEELONG CATS V SYDNEY SWANS DAN MENZEL and Darcy Lang are the inclusions for the Cats to play the Swans tomorrow night, in place of the injured Cam Guthrie (calf) and the omitted Jordan Murdoch, after Menzel was dropped for the first final. Lang hasn't played in the AFL for a while now so is a somewhat surprising inclusion. Guthrie was a big loss last Friday after being serviceable on Dustin Martin early in the game while Murdoch is paying the price for the loss. Jake Kolodjashnij who left the ground in the final quarter also with an apparent calf injury has been named to play. The Swans in contrast have made no changes after their belting of Essendon.

THE CATS have to move on from their first finals effort against the Tigers and put up a better effort against the Swans at the MCG. The AFL has once again denied the Cats a home final, we agreed with the first final against Richmond being at the MCG but this week there is no credible excuse, not when the same AFL handed the Greater Western Sydney Giants a home final last season and again this year. The Swans started the season terribly losing their first five or six but have come home with a wet sail, and will be a real handful for the Cats on Friday night. Tickets went on sale Monday 9am to members.

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LAST GAME DETAILS

UMPIRES

FIELD: Rosebury, Nicholls, Meredith EM: Chamberlain
BOUNDARY: Marantelli, Cusack, Moore, Roberts
GOAL: Appleton, Walker EM: Wilson

TIP: Cats by 2 points

TOM LONERGAN (CLICK IMAGE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE OF ZAIDEE'S RAINBOW FOUNDATION)

LAST TIME

AFL 2017 - ROUND 20

GEELONG CATS V SYDNEY SWANS

FRIDAY 4 AUGUST 2017, 19:50 AEST

SIMONDS STADIUM

5 AUGUST 2017 HISTORY REPEATS AS CATS THUMPED BY SWANS

31 JULY 2017 AFL 2017 ROUND 20 GEELONG CATS V SYDNEY SWANS; MATCH PREVIEW & TEAMS

CHISTORY REPEATS AS CATS THUMPED BY SWANS
Ben Jensen 5 August 2017

AFL 2017 ROUND 20: GEELONG CATS V SYDNEY SWANS GEELONG tried over two quarters but simply could not overcome Sydney's first quarter blitz, the Swans running away with it in the final quarter to win by a convincing 46 points. Seven goals to just two saw the Swans leading by 32 points, a margin that the Cats almost trimmed to less than two goals in the second quarter but Cam Guthrie's goal attempt only hit the post. The Swans went on to kick the final two goals of the half, the half-time lead was virtually unchanged from quarter time at 29 points. Joel Selwood injured an ankle just before half-time, leaving the field assisted by two staff.

In the third term Selwood returned but had little impact and spend a fair bit of time off the field, finally being taken off for good when it was obvious the deficit was not going to be overcome. Geelong outscored Sydney two goals to one in the third quarter but the side featuring more inexperienced players than usual was cooked and the Swans machine continued on in the final quarter. It was not pretty in the first couple minutes of the last term, Dan Hannebery kicking a goal in the first minute and teammate Tom Papley awarded a free kick before the next ball-up due to a Mitch Duncan infringement. Papley missed the shot but was given another chance, and a 50m penalty putting him in the goalsquare, thanks to another slip-up. Four consecutive Swans goals were finally broken by Sam Menegola, the Cats' only goal of the final quarter.

The win well and truly puts Sydney in the top eight, while the Cats are likely to have slipped from second to fourth position by the round's end and face a resurgent Richmond next weekend. Joel Selwood may be in doubt but Patrick Dangerfield will be back in, and hopefully Dan Menzel will join him. The Tigers play Hawthorn on Sunday and if they win will overtake the Cats. Today the VFL Women's team had a good win over Box Hill while the men's VFL side got belted. The reality is the VFL side doesn't have too many eligible AFL-listed players right now, the likes of Rhys Stanley not really needed as Zach Smith has been handling himself quite well lately although Wylie Buzza is still finding his feet. Tom Ruggles got through the match but there isn't a shortage of defenders at the moment. The match against Richmond starts at 2:10PM, the VFL match 10:15 and there is also the VFL Women's game on at the St Mary's Oval kicking off at 11:45.

SYDNEY: 7.5, 10.5, 11.9, 16.11 (107) DEFEATED
GEELONG: 2.3, 5.6, 7.8, 8.13 (61)

GOALS
SYDNEY: Papley 3, Hayward 3, Reid 2, Rohan 2, Hannebery 2, Parker, Heeney, Franklin, Newman
GEELONG: Hawkins 3, Menegola 2, Smith, Parsons, C.Guthrie

BEST
SYDNEY: Parker, Hannebery, Papley, Rampe, Newman, Reid, McVeigh
GEELONG: Duncan, S.Selwood, Menegola, Smith, Lonergan, Hawkins

INJURIES
SYDNEY: Tippett (thigh)
GEELONG: J Selwood (ankle, left)

CHANGES
SYDNEY: Nil
GEELONG: Nil

UMPIRES:
FIELD: Donlon, Nicholls, Hosking EM: Whetton
BOUNDARY: Morrison, Tomkins, Cusak, Moore
GOAL: Dervan, Piperno EM: Wojcik

CROWD: 30,833, Simonds Stadium, Geelong

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CATS DID NOT MAKE THE FINALS

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CATS DID NOT MAKE THE FINALS