Geelong celebrate with the 2022 AFL premiership trophy after their grand final win over the Sydney Swans at the MCG. Photograph: Michael Willson/AFL Photos/Getty Images
A flawless end to an immaculate season. Before Saturday, Geelong were the best team of 2022. Top of the ladder. On a 15-game winning streak. There to be beaten. The mostly likely side to do it were Sydney. But if form really does go out the window in big games, the Swans hurled theirs into oblivion in the grand final, blown away by 81 points by a Cats outfit as magnificent as their opponents were textureless.
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This decider, on return to a full house of 100, 024 at the MCG after a two-year hiatus, was a famous victory for the ages. The 20.13 (133) to 8.4 (52) result is the equal fifth-biggest grand final win in VFL/AFL history. It was also a belting with shades of Geelong’s 119-point 2007 premiership triumph over Port Adelaide, and one that was all but over after the opening quarter. A 35-point quarter-time lead – the biggest in a grand final for 33 years – set the Swans an almost-insurmountable task. They stemmed the bleeding in the second term but by the third the result was academic.
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For Chris Scott, undoubtedly one of the best coaches the game has seen, it is a first piece of silverware since he won the flag in his first year at the Cats in 2011. Reward, too, for his smart list management. For turning age into an asset and fashioning a collective unit of consistency which was on display from the first siren to the last.
And for captain Joel Selwood, now a four-time premiership winner who kicked a goal late on in his 355th and possibly final game, it was all too much.
“They’re so hard to win, they’re so hard to win, ” he said. “Every side says it, but I think we deserved one. Just been bashing away. We don’t apologise to being up there, having a crack at it each year.
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“This has been built over five or six years. There have been a lot of good people … in and out of the program. I hope they’re sitting back really proud today. It just hasn’t been 12 months in the making.”
Geelong’s lineup on Saturday was the oldest team to ever play in the VFL/AFL – grand final or not - with an average age of 28 years and 173 days. The Swans, young and comparatively inexperienced, had been a revelation this season, with a roster of emerging talent and an energy that helped them squeak past Collingwood last weekend.
But while Sydney were wearing red it was Geelong who were red hot, all form and speed, aggressive on the ball and causing mayhem for defenders who spent the entire first quarter under siege and unable to organise. Robbie Fox played a lone hand, keeping Jeremy Cameron honest. But the Cats entered forward-50 in open space and breached Sydney again and again.
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Tom Hawkins drew first blood, and second, and would finish with three goals, to be bested only by Tyson Stengle’s match-high four. Then Norm Medallist Isaac Smith, who scored three of his own and led the field for disposals, kicks and metres gained. And then Mark Blicavs.
By the end of the opening onslaught Lance Franklin had one disposal and Isaac Heeney hadn’t touched the ball. Geelong, meanwhile, had racked up almost double Sydney’s disposal count, nearly triple the inside-50s and triple the number of marks. Geelong had won the contested possession by 20.
The Swans needed a response. They had to slow down the game. Franklin emerged in the second term higher up the field. He grabbed the ball and clattered the post, harried and hassled with little support. It wasn’t until Hayden McLean took a smart one-handed mark in the goal square before converting the straightforward set shot that the energy of the context shifted ever so slightly.
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They started to chip away. Heeney kicked a major from his third touch of the match. Last time these teams met, at the SCG back in round two, Heeney was best on ground with five goals and Franklin scored the 1, 000th of his career. Here both struggled to assert themselves into a game in which nothing seemed to fall their way.
By half-time they had stopped the rot but the deficit still stood at 36 points and Sam Reid had departed with a flare-up to his adductor injury, returning to the bench for the second half before eventually being subbed out for Braeden Campbell.
Geelong didn’t take a chance with the injured Max Holmes, a tough call that paid off as Mark O’Connor slotted in seamlessly. Patrick Dangerfield was Patrick Dangerfield-esque throughout, dominating the centre clearances all the way to the veteran’s first flag, while Tom Stewart and Sam De Koning were unimpeachable in defence.
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A six-goal third quarter put the result beyond doubt as Stengle, picked up as a delisted free agent and playing in the SANFL this time last year, joined an elite group of Cats to kick four or more in a decider. He now stands beside the likes of Cam Mooney, Paul Chapman, Steve Johnson, Bill Brownless, Doug Wade and Gary Ablett senior.
There were late consolations for the Swans, as Chad Warner added two late goals and Tom Papley added one just before the siren, but they were again outscored by a Geelong team already on an inexorable march to glory some time in the making.FOR AS long as Irish players move from one side of the world to the other to play this game, this is the image that will stand the test of time.
Zach Tuohy draped in the Ireland and Portlaoise flags, sitting on the shoulders of compatriot Mark O'Connor and Rhys Stanley, gripping the premiership cup, as he departs the MCG following his 250th game.
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The 33-year-old bought a Portlaoise flag ahead of the 2020 Grand Final in Brisbane, only for it to remain in his bag, deep inside the bowels of the Gabba, as Richmond put the Cats to the sword in the second half of that year's decider.
Only one man from the emerald isle – Sydney great Tadhg Kennelly – had won the ultimate prize before Geelong beat Sydney by 81 points last September.
On the eve of a new season, five months on from that famous September afternoon, after a whirlwind trip back home, it still doesn't quite feel real for Tuohy.
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But that iconic moment is not only very real, it will soon be available for purchase via AFL Mint, the home of officially licensed AFL NFTs.
In collaboration with AFL Mint, we're commemorating the 2022 AFL Premiership with 22 classic moments. Head to aflmint.com.au/relentless to find out more.
It was always a dream of mine if we ever won it, I wanted something from my local team, Tuohy told AFL.com.au.
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Irish players have connections to club teams that isn't fully appreciated here. Some players might come from a village with a few hundred people, but that will be really important to them. It was really hard for me to leave my club team. I always wanted to acknowledge them if we won one.
In 2020, in the hub I got a green and white flag and Quinton Narkle, who is a really talented artist, I just asked him to write freehand 'come on the town' on it. That's what my club are known for. Unfortunately, that Grand Final didn't go to plan. But I thought, if we ever got back there and win it, I'm going to bring it on the dais with me.
Funnily enough, there is vision after the Grand Final of me running up to one of the doctors and asking him to run down and grab it for me. I saw footage of me pointing at the changerooms and asking for it.
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I must admit, when I see that photo, I pause for a second and look at it and look at all the different people in the background. I don't even really remember what I was thinking at the time and every time I see it, it feels like I'm seeing it for the first time. It makes all the tough days of trying to break into a new sport, of moving overseas, it makes it all worthwhile. I can't even really remember what those tough days felt like when I look at it.
Our inaugural Elite moment is @joelselwood14's fairytale Grand Final goal. The moment has Joel’s stats over his 355 game career, a personalised brand mark, and his signature. Only 24 in circulation makes this the rarest of all AFL Mint moments.@ @Be_by_Animoca pic.twitter.com/I4oThVDcZu — AFLMint (@AFLMint) March 7, 2023
The new Relentless series of digital collectibles, released on Thursday, recognises and celebrates Geelong's 2022 premiership win, with Tuohy's moment one of 22 featured.
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Having the prospect of moments being collectable is pretty cool. I've had a little taste of it. It is a really cool space to be involved in. It is a natural progression in terms of access for fans and