Geelong returns to finals off the back of its most successful AFLW season to date, with a clash against North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.

The Kangaroos have had bragging rights over the Cats in their clashes since both teams entered the competition in 2019, but Geelong is in a brilliant vein of form and coming off kicking the second-highest score in AFLW and will be looking for another big performance against North Melbourne.

The Details

Geelong Cats v North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos
Saturday 5 November 2022 at 7.10pm AEDT
GMHBA Stadium
Wadawurrung Country

Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster.

Key Points

Cat Attack
After being maligned for their scoring in the past, the Cats have well and truly got their attacking game going in the second half of the year.

Since Round 5, the Cats have averaged 52.5 points per game, with a strong forward line reaping the benefits of greater cohesion between the lines.

In that same time, the Kangaroos have averaged 45.7 points per game, but have threated with even bigger scores at times with straighter kicking.

The Cats have plenty of options up forward, led by exciting duo Shelley Scott and Chloe Scheer, but it will all come down to how well the team is able to move the ball inside 50.

Cats Strike Balance Between Precision and Pressure
Pressure has been a key characteristic of the Cats’ game the past two seasons, but a big improvement this season has come in how they use the ball and control play with ball in hand.

Geelong had the highest disposal efficiency of any team across the home and away season, led by elite ball-users and great decision-makers Chantel Emonson, Georgie Prespakis and Annabel Johnson.

The Cats just have the edge over the Roos in the disposal efficiency, but there is not much separating the sides.

Likewise, both the Cats and the Roos are strong tackling sides, bringing the pressure with 63.8 and 61.1 tackles per game on average respectively.

Moloney’s Milestone Moment
Young gun Darcy Moloney has powered to 25 games in just her third AFLW season, with the 19-year-old set to play the milestone in Saturday’s Elimination Final.

The Geelong Falcons graduate quickly established her place in the team, bringing great pressure acts, as well as a being able to capitalise on scoring opportunities when they present.

While still only 19 years old, Moloney has cemented her spot in the line up across the two 2022 seasons, and played every game possible this season.

The Colac local produced a career-high 17 disposals and seven tackles against Sydney last week, and has shown she can be a real force around goals, kicking a bag of four in the Cats’ practice match against Gold Coast on the eve of Season 7.

Home Final Feels
Home crowds have played a huge part in getting the Cats up at GMHBA Stadium this year, with vocal support getting the team up and about.

Geelong’s two biggest scores of the season – 71 points in Round 5 and 102 points in Round 10 – have come from their past two matches at home, and the Cats will be hoping that home ground familiarity in combination with an energetic home crowd can help get them over the line against North Melbourne.

How to Watch

Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster here.

The game will be also broadcast on 7 Mate and can be streamed through Kayo, womens.afl or the AFL Women’s and AFL Live Official Apps.

Follow @catswomens on Twitter and Instagram for updates throughout the game.

They say it's the hope that kills, and for so much of Saturday night's elimination final, Geelong was just one goal away from taking the lead.

The Cats dominated nearly every facet of the game, but just couldn't find the middle of the sticks, and in the end, it was North Melbourne that triumphed by just two points, and the Roos now live to fight another day. 

CATS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

It's an unfortunate ending for Geelong, which has shown great improvement both between seasons and just in the past six weeks.

It was a scrappy, high-pressure game, with neither side allowing the other much space around the contest.

The Cats had 12-5 inside 50s in the first quarter, but the Roos took better advantage of their limited entries, and it was a buffer that held into half-time.

Geelong owned most of the second and third terms, but struggled to put any scoreboard pressure on, thanks in part to some desperate Kangaroos defending from the likes of Brooke Brown and Jas Ferguson.

Conversely, the Roos found the going tough when attempting to exit their defensive half, with Georgie Rankin and Annabel Johnson patrolling across the field, and the game was mainly a dour, ping-pong struggle played at the Cats' end.

Two top-tier midfields went head-to-head, with North Melbourne just edging Geelong in the clearance count despite a clear dominance in the ruck.

Jasmine Garner was once again North Melbourne's best with 23 disposals, six clearances, and eight tackles, and was well supported by Mia King and Jenna Bruton.

Amy McDonald nearly broke the game open in the final minutes with her run and dash, and was a fierce fighter throughout, as were Nina Morrison and Mikayla Bowen on the wings.

GOALS
Geelong: Moloney
North Melbourne: Abbatangelo, O'Loughlin

BEST
Geelong: A. McDonald, Morrison, Rankin, Bowen, Emonson
North Melbourne: Garner, M. King, Bruton, Smith, Brown 

INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: 4,338 at GMHBA Stadium