CATS HOLD ONTO TOP FOUR SPOT WITH TEN GOAL WIN OVER LIONS
Ben Jensen 21 August 2016

AFL 2016 ROUND 22: BRISBANE LIONS V GEELONG CATS GEELONG held onto their top four spot with a ten goal win over Brisbane at the Gabba today, with the Lions putting up a fair bit of fight but unable to hold off the more experienced Cats. The Cats looked headed for a potential three-figure margin with a seven goal to one first quarter but Justin Leppitsch's boys played a good system and it began to click in the second term, the margin soon back inside twenty points, the Lions putting in a six goal to two quarter.

A ten goals eight behinds to three goals four behinds second half by Geelong put the result beyond any doubt. Steven Motlop finished with five goals straight including the final of the match and would have pleased the match committee, who fired a shot across the bow by naming him in the VFL line-up, although he was named on the field in the AFL side. The umpiring would have done thousands of Geelong fans and at least one coach (Chris Scott)'s heads in, ultimately it had no influence however.

Sam Menegola, who Tim McGrath in the pre-match on K-Rock didn't think was in Geelong's best 22, was our pick for best on ground and has really taken his chance at AFL level with both hands. Patrick Dangerfield could've had more than his two goals after also booting four behinds, and was our pick for second best. Evergreen Corey Enright deserves a vote too, a third quarter goal putting an exclamation point on his performance.

To guarantee a spot in the top four Geelong needs to beat Melbourne at home next Saturday afternoon, any margin will do. Win by an extraordinary margin and the Cats are a chance to take second spot; if the Crows lose to the Eagle at home (unlikely without Nic Natanui) a win by any margin should hand the Cats second spot. An inclusion next week should be Jimmy Bartel but who makes way for him is less clear- we would leave out Darcy Lang but it's difficult to predict the selections this season.

In the VFL the Bendigo Bank Cats had a close one over Casey, winning by eleven points with four less scoring shots. The Cats are in sixth spot with one week to go before finals. Their final game is against Port Melbourne at North Port Oval on Saturday, the same time as the AFL match.

GEELONG: 7.3, 9.7, 14.11, 19.15 (129) DEFEATED
BRISBANE LIONS: 1.3, 7.4, 8.5, 10.9 (69)

GOALS
GEELONG: Motlop 5, Dangerfield 2, Henderson 2, Hawkins 2, McCarthy 2, Blicavs, Duncan, Enright, Cowan, Kersten, Guthrie
BRISBANE LIONS: Rich 2, Bell 2, Walker, Taylor, Cutler, Robinson, Mathieson, Rockliff

BEST
GEELONG: Dangerfield, Menegola, Motlop, Enright, Guthrie, J.Selwood
BRISBANE LIONS: Rockliff, Cutler, Rich, Andrews, Mathieson, Martin

CHANGES
GEELONG: Nil
BRISBANE LIONS: Nil

INJURIES
GEELONG: Nil
BRISBANE LIONS: Nil

REPORTS: Nil

UMPIRES: Findlay, Hosking, Wallace

CROWD: 20,477 at Gabba, Brisbane