1. Harry’s miss after the siren
Geelong swingman Harry Taylor returned from a foot injury and had the chance to win the game off his own boot when he hauled in a pack mark in the dying seconds. As Taylor went back to take his kick, the siren sounded with the Cats trailing by three points. With most of the Bulldogs’ team standing the mark, Taylor’s shot from 45 metres slewed to the left and barely made it through for a behind. It marred an otherwise positive return for the veteran. With the Cats’ boasting a settled defence, Taylor was thrown forward as expected and had an immediate impact by marking in the first minute, but missed a regulation shot from 20 metres. He converted his next two shots from long range, but was unable to convert the one that counted most.

2. Geelong’s bye curse continues
Remarkably for a regular finallist, Geelong has now lost immediately after its mid-season in each of the past seven seasons. Desperate to end their hoodoo, the Cats this time changed their preparation by spending their free weekend together in the sun and surf on the Gold Coast, but they will have to go back to the drawing board next year. Twelve days after succumbing to reigning premier Richmond, the Cats lost their second successive game and have placed their top-eight spot in jeopardy. One of the concerns for the Cats was that they were outplayed and outrun in a game in which their star-studded midfield dominated possession.

3. Where have these attacking Bulldogs been?
The Dogs didn't appear to stand much chance of kicking a winning score against the miserly Cats’ defence given they had averaged only 56 points in their previous five outings. As it turned out, they beat that tally by halftime to lead narrowly, and then rattled on three successive goals in the opening five minutes of the third term to suddenly hold a 24-point advantage. At that stage they had four multiple goalkickers and finished with six, with classy youngster Ed Richards snaring a team-high three majors. Geelong came back hard but the Dogs, despite being a man down, continued to take the game on with daring run and ball movement to break an 11-game hoodoo against the Cats – a stretch that went back to 2009.

4. Jong breaks that collarbone again in a dangerous Menegola tackle
Bulldogs late inclusion Lin Jong – who replaced Matt Suckling (achilles soreness) – was consigned to early, painful night. Midway through the first term he appeared set to kick a goal only to be heavily tackled by Sam Menegola. Jong’s head and upper-body hit the deck hard and he seemed groggy as he left the field with the help of a trainer while nursing a broken right collarbone. Jong broke the same collarbone in the 2016 finals series, which robbed him of an opportunity to play in the Dog’s drought-breaking premiership. Menegola will be lucky to avoid suspension. 

5. On debut, Narkle sparkles while Lynch doesn't flinch
Each team boasted a 20-year-old first-gamer from Western Australia whose progress has been hampered by injury, with exciting midfielder/forward Quinton Narkle making his long-awaited debut for Geelong and the Bulldogs unveiling defensive playmaker Brad Lynch. Both were extremely impressive first up. The explosive Narkle, just 12 months after undergoing a knee reconstruction, started on the bench and was got a cheer when he entered the fray, almost immediately giving a handball to Gary Ablett to set up the Cats’ first goal after six minutes. Twelve minutes later the blond bombshell nailed a classy major himself on the run from 45 metres, and later drilled a second. Lynch also adjusted well to the tempo and gifted Josh Schache an easy goal after delivering a lovely long pass in the second term. The young Dog also superbly won a big contest in the third term.