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Three men down and trailing by 34-points against a youthful and inspired Dockers outfit, Geelong have risen like Lazarus to steal a 2-point victory.
Entering the match as heavy favourites, the Cats experienced a disastrous opening minute losing captain Joel Selwood due to a sickening head clash with Fremantle forward Hayden Ballantyne.
It didn’t get any better, as young defender Tom Stewart and Darcy Lang soon made the list of casualties, leaving the Cats with only one healthy man on the bench for most the second half.
Smelling blood, a new look Fremantle team ripped the game open with seven straight goals in the second quarter.
Led brilliantly of half back by Connor Blakely and with Brad Hill and Michael Walters providing run through the midfield as well as a goal scoring option up forward, the Dockers scythed through Geelong’s defence, stunning the home crowd.
Despite missing stalwarts Aaron Sandilands and captain Nat Fyfe, Fremantle looked set to continue the trend of unpredictable and unbelievable upsets that have become common in season 2017.
Wounded and weary, the move to put players behind the ball stemmed the bleeding for the Cats, as they slowly worked their way back into the match trailing by 19-points heading into the final break.
Well held by Nick Suban for three quarters, Patrick Dangerfield exploded in the fourth, leading the way with 24 contested possessions while Mitch Duncan stepped up in Selwood’s absence collecting 30 possessions.
Two goals from James Parsons brought Geelong within striking distance before Tom Hawkins only goal of the match put the Cats in front.
A last-ditch foray forward for Fremantle almost caused yet another boilover in Round 14, however Walters’ shot from 25 metres out was sprayed to the left, leaving the Cats to revel in a season-defining victory.
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