All year the VFL Cats have shown signs of playing the type of football that be would good enough to match it with most sides in the competition. Sometimes these ‘signs’ lasted for 1 quarter, sometimes a half or sometimes it was only 10 minutes of football.

On Saturday it all came together for four quarters and the result was simply devastating.

The Cats kicked off one of Skilled Stadium’s most memorable days with a 128 point defeat of the 5th placed Casey Scorpions. This was no lowly inexperienced opponent that the Cats faced. It was a Melbourne aligned Scorpions team that included the likes of Aaron Davey, Cale Morton, Brendan Fevola, Clint Bartram, Matthew Warnock, Robert Campbell and Jamie Bennell.

The final score of 31-6-(192) to 10-4-(64) was the VFL Cats second highest score since the formation of the VFL competition in 2000. The Cats feel just 11 points short of the 31-17-(203) it recorded in 2002 when the Ron Watt lead VFL Cats defeated the then Bendigo Diggers by 146 points at Skilled Stadium.

The Cats had standout players all over the ground and hardest part of the day was selecting which 6 players should go in the best. Co-captain Troy Selwood (12 disposals, 8 marks) set the trend for the day when he kicked a remarkable 5 goals in the first quarter. He eventually finished with 7 straight and came off ill in the last quarter. Jonathan Simpkin (28 disposals, 8 marks) continued his superb 2011 form, kicking 7 goals and having a hand in a number of others -In many ways it was the VFL’s version of what Steven Johnson did some 3 hours later. The Cats midfield of Simon Hogan (34 disposals, 10 clearances, 6 tackles), Casey Tutungi (29 disposals, 5 marks, 6 tackles), Joshua Cowan (24 disposals, 4 marks, 8 tackles), Cameron Guthrie (21 disposals, 7 marks) and the ever present Mark Corrigan (25 disposals, 6 marks, 6 tackles) were dominant for the entire match.

This midfield domination was even more impressive when you consider the late withdrawal of key ruckman Dawson Simpson which left the VFL Cats without a recognised ruckman. The majority of the ruck duties were placed on the shoulders of first year defender Ryan Bathie who played brilliantly against the 208cm Max Gawn and ex Hawk premiership ruckman Robert Campbell.

Early on the only shining light for the Scorpions up forward was former Carlton and Brisbane Lions superstar Brendan Fevola (4 goals) who kicked 3 goals in the first quarter and helped keep his side within sight of the Cats. The Cats 35 point quarter time lead at quarter time was reflective of the 22 to 7 inside 50 count.

While many people at the ground were expecting a second quarter Scorpion fight back, it was the Cats that once again had all the momentum early in the term. The composure of first year draftee Guthrie combined with the courage and run from Corrigan helped setup the first two goals of the quarter. Goals to Simpkin, George Burbury (18 disposals, 3 goals, 6 marks, 6 tackles) and livewire Jordan Schroder (23 disposals, 4 marks, 8 tackles) extended the advantage beyond a 10 goal margin at half time.

The third quarter was once again all one way traffic as Geelong put through the opening five goals of the quarter. Troy Selwood’s sixth major and Jonathan Simpkin’s fourth blew the lead out to an imposing 86 points and had people reaching for the record books. After Selwood kicked his career best seventh goal, the margin had blown out to an unbelievable 104 points at three quarter time.

With nothing to play for but respect in the final term, the Scorpions came out with a more attacking mindset and kicked 3 goals in the opening 15 minutes. But unfortunately for them they were unable to stop the damage at the other end, with the Cats midfield and forwards doing as they pleased. Not content with his day’s work, forward flanker Jonathan Simpkin put in a sparkling final quarter to finish off with 7 goals for the game. The final margin of 128 points was by far and away the VFL Cats biggest win of 2011, and although no one is mentioning the ‘F” word just yet - the door for some possible September action is now slightly ajar.

At the final siren many people thought that the stunning result would become the big story of the day. Who would have ever predicted the bloodshed that was to come once the umpire bounced the ball at the start of the AFL match. The Geelong supporters that arrived at 10.30am for the start of the VFL, saw their sides kick 67 goals, 17 behinds in 8 quarters, a combined total of 425 points and a combined winning margin of 314 points. A remarkable day at Kardinia Park - the likes of which supporters may never see again.

For those fans who enjoyed the double header last week - their is more to come this week when the Bendigo Bank Cats take on arch rival Collingwood VFL in the curtain raiser to the AFL Round 20 Geelong Vs Gold Coast match.

The match kicks off at the special time of 10:10am with the gates opening at 10.10am.

Geelong Cats 31-6-(192)
Casey Scorpions 10-4-(64)
Goals: Selwood 7 Simpkin 7 Schroder 4 Burbury 3 Corrigan 2 Johnson 2 Motlop 2 Stringer 2 Hogan Horlin-Smith 1
Best: Simpkin Corrigan Guthrie Bathie Schroder Selwood
Injuries: Barham (hamstring)