Geelong eviscerate Sydney by 81 points in AFL grand final win for the ages

A flawless end to an immaculate season. Before Saturday, Geelong were the best team of 2022. Top of the ladder. On a 15-game winning streak. There to be beaten. The mostly likely side to do it were Sydney. But if form really does go out the window in big games, the Swans hurled theirs into oblivion in the grand final, blown away by 81 points by a Cats outfit as magnificent as their opponents were textureless.

For Chris Scott, undoubtedly one of the best coaches the game has seen, it is a first piece of silverware since he won the flag in his first year at the Cats in 2011. Reward, too, for his smart list management. For turning age into an asset and fashioning a collective unit of consistency which was on display from the first siren to the last.

And for captain Joel Selwood, now a four-time premiership winner who kicked a goal late on in his 355th and possibly final game, it was all too much.

But while Sydney were wearing red it was Geelong who were red hot, all form and speed, aggressive on the ball and causing mayhem for defenders who spent the entire first quarter under siege and unable to organise. Robbie Fox played a lone hand, keeping Jeremy Cameron honest. But the Cats entered forward-50 in open space and breached Sydney again and again.

They started to chip away. Heeney kicked a major from his third touch of the match. Last time these teams met, at the SCG back in round two, Heeney was best on ground with five goals and Franklin scored the 1,000th of his career. Here both struggled to assert themselves into a game in which nothing seemed to fall their way.

By half-time they had stopped the rot but the deficit still stood at 36 points and Sam Reid had departed with a flare-up to his adductor injury, returning to the bench for the second half before eventually being subbed out for Braeden Campbell.

A six-goal third quarter put the result beyond doubt as Stengle, picked up as a delisted free agent and playing in the SANFL this time last year, joined an elite group of Cats to kick four or more in a decider. He now stands beside the likes of Cam Mooney, Paul Chapman, Steve Johnson, Bill Brownless, Doug Wade and Gary Ablett senior.

There were late consolations for the Swans, as Chad Warner added two late goals and Tom Papley added one just before the siren, but they were again outscored by a Geelong team already on an inexorable march to glory some time in the making.