Bitterness towards the recent reunion of the Geelong Cats and Gary Ablett isn’t as much a tipping point as the realisation of a growing – but largely suppressed – feeling of coolness towards the Cats.
After all, even the most stone-hearted football fan must struggle to resist the romance of a club’s favourite son – who just happens to be the son of the club’s original favourite son – returning to the club to play out his final farewell act in front of its adoring fans.
Never mind a Bombers supporting child of the 1980s and 1990s who, like many fans of other clubs, looked on the loveable but ultimately flawed Cats of the time as my second favourite team.
This was of course against the backdrop of those wildly entertaining Geelong sides, headlined by Gary Ablett (senior) and with football savant Malcolm Blight at the helm, which played such an irresistible brand of free-flowing, attacking football.
But the football itself was only part of the attraction for the neutral supporter.
The Cats – residents of Victoria’s second city Geelong, long dubbed ‘Sleepy Hollow’ – were the closest thing the competition had to a country club and tapped into the goodwill big city Australians have always felt for the bush.
For jaded fans of Melbourne based clubs, it was hard not to be drawn in by the innocent naivety of tales of Cats centre-half-forward Billy Brownless kicking a football over a wheat silo or the (late) Paul Couch being surprised at the arrival of the fire brigade at his house after he set a tree on fire in order to kill a creeping vine.
Of course, there was also Buddha Hocking’s infamous ‘Whiskas’ name change stunt aimed at raising much-needed cash for the club.
The fact Geelong also represented the gateway to the surf coast for many Melburnians also ensured thoughts of the Cats were somehow always intertwined with summer holiday nostalgia.
Perhaps the formative footballing moment in respect of many neutral fans’ fondness for the Cats was the epic 1989 grand final.
There was something so profoundly heroic about that Geelong side dispensing with its genetic flair so as to go toe to toe with that all-conquering, snarling Hawthorn beast in such a shockingly brutal affair.
That this approach was ultimately credited as the reason the Cats came so close to victory and also the distraction that robbed them of a flag, only heightened the sense of tragedy and feeling of admiration for Geelong.
The Cats would go on to lose three more grand finals which only endeared them more to the neutral.
After celebrating the Cats drought-breaking romp over Port Adelaide in the 2007 grand final, the 2008 grand final boilover against the fledgeling unsociable Hawks revived that familiar mixture of fondness and sympathy for the blue and white hoops.
And then all that goodwill slowly started to evaporate.
While undoubtedly success has played its part, it does not tell the whole story.
Perhaps the first cracks in the Cats’ veneer appeared when the Cats defeated the Saints in the 2009 grand final and in doing so, shattered the dreams of a club which rivalled the Cats as a flawed heartbreaker.
Then came the appointment of the hard-nosed and pragmatic Chris Scott, who was very much at odds with his somewhat mad football genius type predecessors in Mark Thompson and Blight.
Joel Selwood’s Peter Costello-like smug grin, coupled with his penchant for cynically ducking into tackles to attract free kicks never fails to rankle.
On the minor end of the scale, there was Harry Taylor’s bizarre ‘ham’ handshake with Adelaide Crow Josh Jenkins.
But most unsavoury of all was the Cats’ shameless 2012 mid-season delegation to Adelaide to try and woo the Power’s Jan Juc boy, Travis Boak back home. That it came at a time when the Power was on its knees left an even greater stain on the Cats.
And now the Ablett trade, which just happens to represent the second (eventual in the case of Patrick Dangerfield) Brownlow medallist the Cats have poached from rival clubs in the last two years.
(Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)
Despite the Cats disingenuous protestations to the contrary, the trade always had an air of inevitability when you considered the bleeding trade partner in Gold Coast and the thinly veiled threat of retirement from Ablett’s camp.
The surprisingly high compensatory draft pick awarded to the Cats for Steven Motlop’s departure – and ultimately used as a makeweight in the deal – did little for the trade’s popularity outside of Geelong.
In any event, none of this will trouble the vast majority of Cats fans rightly revelling in their club’s golden era.
It just might mean the Saints have a few more friends moving forward.
Author’s note: While not referenced in the article, a note to acknowledge the sad passing of Natasha Ablett and not to ignore the personal reasons involved in players seeking a trade closer to home.
pussyblue
Guest
The mere fact that so many Geelong haters have come out of the woodwork tells me Geelong must be doing something right. Geelong has probably had the lowest number of high draft picks in the AFL this century and has still managed more consistently high ladder positions than any other team. Without checking, I would imagine they must have had close to the lowest number of home games in that time as well.
Harsh Truth Harry
Roar Rookie
Come on Pussy Blue....your Cats are slow as treacle and you just gave away someone who can run and has spark in Steve Motlop.
Harsh Truth Harry
Roar Rookie
Stephen, O'Meara sadly for him can't get on the park....Hawthorn thought they could fix him with their medicos, 2017 proved they can't.
Steve009
Roar Rookie
With the current AFL it's a huge assumption that they didn't tamper with the position of that draft pick.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
Cat, Melbourne also has four professional football teams in three other football codes, and millions of people who come from other states or countries where nobody cares about AFL football. Geelong's population is nearly all white people of British descent, as are all of the surrounding regions whose population basically support the Cats by default. Consider these facts and then come up with some more accurate numbers please.
andyl12
Guest
"Personally, as a Geelong supporter, I think the team largely lost the game off their own boot in the second quarter with those 9 abysmal misses." That is the first time I've ever heard a Geelong fan admit that. Everyone else involved in the club carries on in the way Donald Trump would've carried on if he'd lost the election last year.
Cat
Roar Guru
pussyblue
Guest
The reason If Geelong was ever anyones second favourite was because they were forever "almost there". When they started to get too much success other team supporters resented it. The tall poppy syndrome was alive and well. How many years now have the pundits predicted Geelongs' slide down the ladder? I see HTH has yet again predicted Geelongs' fall. Well better pundits than him have been wrong. Everyone has forgotten how many good players were on the LTI list last year.
Joe
Guest
Once again, Geelong beat Collingwood THREE TIMES in 2011. It would be a joke to say Collingwood deserved that flag over a team they couldn't beat on three occasions. I went and checked, St Kilda had one more win than Geelong in 2009. They were one-all head to head, so no domination there. Even in 2008 Geelong only had three more wins than Hawthorn - impressive, but nothing that should immediately mean they "deserve" the flag over Hawthorn. Personally, as a Geelong supporter, I think the team largely lost the game off their own boot in the second quarter with those 9 abysmal misses.
Cat
Roar Guru
If you are just going to name the minor premiers as 'the best' then Hawthorn wasn't the best in 2014 or 2015 and Brians multiple teams named in '16 and '17 are clearly wrong too. Admit it if you want to have any credibility.
Cat
Roar Guru
There are nine teams in Melbourne and 4.67 million* people. That works out to approximately 519k people per team. There is one team in Geelong and 238,603* people. Melbourne teams have over twice the people per team available. * 2016 population totals.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
"Most Melbourne clubs could not even come close to managing those kinds of funds to do it." That's right, because they're not in a one-team town.
andyl12
Guest
You're wrong about '09. St Kilda had a superior H&A record that year. The same way Collingwood had a superior H&A record in '11, yet you claim Geelong were the best team. If Geelong deserved '09 or '11 then Hawthorn deserved '08. Admit it if you want to have any credibility.
andyl12
Guest
Yes, we played by the rules. It didn't stop the umpires unsuccessfully attempting to rob us of a win that day.
Cat
Roar Guru
Joe
Guest
How the hell were Collingwood better than Geelong in 2011, when Geelong beat Collingwood THREE times?
Joe
Guest
Geelong beat Collingwood three times in 2011, so it'd be a bit rich to say they were better. And Cats went into the 2009 GF as favourites, with the same H&A record as St Kilda.
Joe
Guest
Read your comment back again. You complain about Geelong getting more free kicks than Hawthorn, then say people are sour because their team lost to a team that played by the rules. Genius.
Stephen
Guest
HTH, Interesting to hear your views on Hawthorn's trading of Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis. A former club List Manager once told me - there are two golden rules for list management. One, don't overrate your list. And two, never trade your club's soul. Arguably, Mitchell and Lewis once formed part of Hawthorn's soul/fabric. However, their replacements in Tom Mitchell and O'Meara, will be playing long after the others have retired. Was it a good move from Hawthorn? I don't know. Perhaps only time will tell. If O'Meara remains injury-prone there is possibly the answer - given the draft concessions and salary sacrificed to secure his service.
Stephen
Guest
Interesting Brendon. I have never looked at it that way. Of the 850 contracted AFL players currently in the system, I can only think of a handful of genuine match winners. Franklin, Martin and Dangerfield, perhaps closely followed by the younger emerging Bontempelli and Daniher. Just my opinion. I define a 'match winner' as a player who can dramatically, consistently and almost by solo effort - turn the game in his/her clubs favour - when no one else can and against the flow of the game. They're hard to find. Back to your point. Can a genuine match winner, also produce a potential downside to their teams performance? Where the team suffers despite their remarkable individual talent? It's a difficult question and for better judges than I. It would be interesting to hear from the 'Crowd'. Are the rare and brilliant match winning feats of - Dangerfield, Phil Carmen, Rene Kink, Gary Ablett Sr, Matthew Richardson??? offset by a self-centred/individualistic style, damaging to the overall team performance? I don't know.