Round 17 – Geelong v Brisbane: When we paint our masterpiece

 

 

 

 

Round 17
Geelong v Brisbane
Thursday 2 July
GMHBA Stadium Geelong

 

When we Paint our Masterpiece

 

It’s become something alright, this rivalry.

 

Like Federer and Nadal our coach, Chris Fagan, offered in the lead up to tonight’s game. He’s a measured and humble guy is Fages, for him to liken Geelong and Brisbane to perhaps the most revered sporting rivalry says something. Perhaps he’s taking the time to enjoy starting to ponder his legacy. The narrative that will outlast him and the footprint he will leave.

 

The universe has been kind to both of our tribes. Each can lay claim to being the team of the twenty first century. It will be this rivalry that defines this era. We win one, they win one.

 

Every clash between Geelong and Brisbane has been its own type of masterpiece recently. There have been tight tussles, one sided displays of virtuosic grandeur, dogged brawling arm wrestles and operatic opulence. Each of us have saluted and been slugged in equal measure.

 

The first quarter is like the Lions have climbed the Faraway Tree, taken some pop biscuits and toffee from Moon Face and found themselves in the Land of Do-As-You-Please. Charlie Cameron has two goals in the first minute, Logan marks and snaps a goal over the man on the mark – unlike last week, this one counts! Bailey, Morris again, Levi. The lads are wearing the Fitzroy jumper to compound the joy. When Lions and Cats tussle, the games are masterworks. Our first quarter was a particularly Baroque piece of art – dramatic, emotive, exuberant and dynamic. That old man Dangerfield gets a goal at the death to cast the slightest of shadows over our six goal quarter time lead.

 

I have a great mate at work, a Geelong devotee without peer. So much so, that he took a selfie with uberfan CatMan at one game to convince us that they were in fact different people. Photoshop and AI being all that it is, many of us remain unconvinced. He has reliably informed me that Shannon Neale’s nickname is Superboot. Oh, what blasphemous misappropriation. But he’s central to the revolutionary Geelong Renaissance in the second quarter. There’s an eighty-metre goal that bounces its way through like a portentous thief in the night. If the real Superboot, Bernie Quinlan, had kicked it, it would have sailed through without bouncing and cleared the grandstand.

 

There has been lots of media chatter about Lachie Neale this week. Oscar Wilde suggested that there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that’s not being talked about. Half of Victoria know that he will be having dinner with Ross Lyon tomorrow night. He’s kneed in the head an taken from the ground, almost forcibly, for concussion protocols. In his absence, we see the future, it becomes Levi’s centre square and his brother Will leads the midfield. The playlist is evolving. Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone but the kids are alright.

 

I get a bit lost in the second half. As my Almanac contributions have waned, I’ve tried to use this mid-year break we teachers get to start scribbling a little bit. It’s personal indulgence and enjoyable. But the game gets me. It’s another masterpiece. I sat down to write as a way of savouring the game, but I lack the discipline and end up on the edge of the couch with my notebook abandoned on the floor biting my nails for the second half.

 

A few moments stand out. Lohmann starts doing what he does best – kicking goals and annoying the opposition and their fans. The whole identity of the Lions has changed in the last five years. Cam Rayner has become our Dermott Brereton, a cocktail of strength, strut, swagger and style. Like Morty Seinfeld pragmatically wondering about his son Jerry, I can see why people might not like us at times. Conor McKenna, Sam Draper, Darcy Wilmot all have their thumbprints on tonight’s victory. Darcy Gardiner blankets Jeremy Cameron in a laudable display and limps from the ground in the last quarter with a hamstring injury. Broken but triumphant.

 

It’s another masterpiece to hang in the glorious gallery being compiled by the Cats and Lions of late. It’s not finished; it’s not over. There are no real spoils for the victors tonight, just a sense that we will meet again for another storied chapter. Tonight was the sixth game in just the past two seasons, and one wouldn’t be surprised nor upset should there be another stanza this September.

 

Malarkey Medal Votes:

3      Will Ashcroft

2       Patrick Dangerfield

1       Darcy Gardiner

 

GEELONG   1.5   7.11   11.14   14.17 (101)
BRISBANE      8.0   9.6   17.8   19.9 (123)

 

GOALS
Geelong: Dangerfield 5, Neale 3, Martin 2, Dempsey 2, Wiltshire, Mullin
Brisbane: Lohmann 5, Morris 3, Bailey 3, Cameron 2, McKenna 2, L.Ashcroft, Dunkley, Rayner, Fort

 

BEST
Geelong: Dangerfield, Holmes, Smith, Dempsey, Stewart
Brisbane: W.Ashcroft, Neale, Lohmann, Bailey, Draper, Dunkley 

 

INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
Brisbane: Gardiner (hamstring), Bailey (hamstring tightness) 

 

More Round 17 Reports can be read Here.

 

 

Read more from Shane Reid HERE

 

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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