A Danger-ous opening quarter

It was almost if Patrick Dangerfield was playing the game one second ahead of everyone else in the first term of the preliminary final. The Cats superstar may spend a little more time on the bench these days, but his impact in setting the tone early was second to none. He led everyone with nine touches to the first break, but it was his two goals – including the opener within the first minute – that got Geelong off to a strong start. Dangerfield completed a mid-season training block following a calf injury, missing five weeks, and appears to be in tip-top shape at the right time of year.

What to do about Lachie Neale?

Arguably the player of the finals thus far, the Brownlow medal fancy would have been expecting strong pressure at the stoppages. But Geelong backed its collective midfield to counter the effect of the dangerous Neale, opting not to tag. Instead, it appeared the industrious Cam Guthrie and skipper Joel Selwood spent the most time going head-to-head with Neale in the first half, whose output (eight disposals and four clearances) wasn't quite as special as in weeks prior. Tom Atkins picked up the job after the main break, but the game was well and truly won. Neale finished with 20 touches (11 contested possessions) and six clearances, but just 86m gained.

CATS v LIONS Full match coverage and stats

Tall Lions fail to fire

Geelong's team defence was outstanding – continually rotating around to ensure Tom Stewart was playing loose – but Brisbane would have been disappointed in the uncompetitiveness of its three tall forwards, particularly in the first half. Joe Daniher, Eric Hipwood and Dan McStay weren't getting the best of delivery (slow and high kicks due to pressure further afield) but struggled to even bring the ball to ground for the smalls. At times, Geelong even used Rhys Stanley in defence against one of the talls, letting Mark Blicavs look after the ruck further afield.

Holmes' injury blow

It's never a good time to suffer an injury, but during a preliminary final when your team is 60 points ahead is possibly the worst. Max Holmes has played such an important role on the wing for Geelong this year, but appeared to ping a hamstring late in the third term while kicking. He slowly made his way to the bench, lying on his stomach to be treated and hitting his head against the turf in frustration. If Holmes is ruled out next week, it looks set to open the door for Mark O'Connor or Brandon Parfitt.

Cats shake off prelim hoodoo

Only four teams can make a preliminary final, and most struggling clubs would love to have Geelong's recent record. But up until Friday night, the Cats had only won one of their past five preliminary finals – all coming since 2016. The losses had been poor, too, an average margin of 60.1. Eight players in Geelong's victorious preliminary final side did not play in the 2020 decider: Tom Atkins, Jeremy Cameron, Brad Close, Sam De Koning, Zach Guthrie, Isaac Smith, Tyson Stengle and Holmes, who unfortunately looks set to miss next week.