The Cats mounted a final term fightback after trailing at three quarter time, getting within a kick of the lead but the Giants hung on to record a 12.9 (81) to 10.14 (74) victory.
Giants captain Toby Greene starred with four goals, with former skippers Stephen Coniglio and Callan Ward also significant contributors in the gutsy performance.
It was the Giants' fourth win under first-year coach Adam Kingsley, helping Greene celebrate his 200-game milestone in fine style while improving their record to 4-7.
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The shock result inflicted more pain on injury-hit Geelong (5-6), who have now suffered three-straight defeats for the second time this season.
Greene kicked 4.1 from seven disposals in the first half while Jake Riccardi and Brent Daniels both finished with three goals, including two crucial majors each in the final term as GWS held off a huge late challenge.
The Giants led by 24 points at the eight-minute mark of the last quarter, but Geelong stormed back into the contest, roared on by a vocal home crowd of 21, 349.
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The Cats kicked four of the next five goals and twice trimmed the margin to two points before Daniels shut the gate from close range with little more than two minutes left.
Coniglo (26 disposals, seven clearances), Ward (19, seven), Tom Green (28, three) and Lachie Ash (26, two) were outstanding, while Lachie Keeffe limited Cats spearhead Tom Hawkins to one goal from 10 disposals.
Geelong became the first club in AFL/VFL history to field three Irish players in the same team when Oisin Mullin made his debut alongside Zach Tuohy and Mark O'Connor.
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Speedster Mullin showed glimpses and almost kicked a brilliant goal, spinning out of a tackle by the Giants' own Irishman Callum Brown before his snap shot floated narrowly wide.
The Giants kicked 4.2 to 1.2 for the term - three of those from Greene - to take a 17-point lead to the main break.
Tyson Stengle and Ollie Henry kicked two goals each to drag Geelong back into the contest, bringing the home crowd to life.
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Tom Stewart (31 disposals) was Geelong's major ball-winner, with Mark Blicavs (22 touches, seven clearances) and Tom Atkins (20, six) also busy.
The Cats have always been proud of their Irish connection and it lifted to another level on Saturday. Oisin Mullin's debut saw three three Emerald Isle emigrants line up in an AFL side for the first time, the 22-year-old standing beside premiership players Zach Tuohy and Mark O'Connor. Mullin started on the ground and received a strong round of applause from the Geelong crowd when he got his first disposal away. Before the second quarter was over he had double-figure disposals, one behind and a black eye, and by the end of the game he had an impressive debut that gives at least some credit to the nickname 'the Irish Nick Daicos'.
Watch the special moment where Oisin Mullin was presented his playing jumper by Zach Tuohy with his family watching from home. Presented by Ford.
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It's been a long journey to 200 games for Toby Greene, but never a dull one. The Giants superstar lined up in GWS's first side to take to an AFL field in round one, 2012, after being selected with pick 11 in the previous draft, but he's missed a total of 68 games since then through injury and - a little too often - suspension. However, there's never been any doubting Greene's importance to his side and he underlined his superstar status again on Saturday with four first-half goals proving the difference early and giving his teammates the belief they could win.
Up Next AFLW | Cats Begin Preparation for Season Eight Nina Morrison gives an insight into the upcoming AFLW season ahead of next week's pre-season return Read nowZach Tuohy believes Geelong’s round 21 loss to GWS was more about the Cats’ bad performance than a good one from the Giants, ahead of this weekend’s semi-final clash between the sides.
Tuohy, who will this week return from a three-week injury lay-off, said the danger the Giants pose is fresh in the Cats’ minds, and that they knew what needed to be done to avoid a repeat of that loss this week.
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“That was a particularly poor performance on our end, ” Tuohy said of the loss, where GWS were quite undermanned. “They’re a quality side who, when they’re given it on their terms, they are impossible to stop, we allowed them to move it [the ball] far too quickly on that occasion.
The Irish defender said Toby Greene was obviously a big loss for GWS, but added the Giants are “a highly competent side without him”. Greene was suspended for three weeks for bumping an umpire in the Giants’ elimination final win over Sydney.
“They’ve been a particularly dangerous side for a long time … when they get going they’re very hard to stop. [They’re] a little bit Richmond-esque in terms of how they play, ” Tuohy said.
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Geelong have come under fire this week for losing yet another first week final. That has been compounded by what some see as a list that is too mature, added to by the expensive off-season recruitment of Jeremy Cameron from GWS.
“It’s good [the mood], ” Tuohy said. “Obviously we are disappointed in the performance [against Port Adelaide], you always are in a loss, but I think we have gathered ourselves pretty well and we won’t need much more motivation for a game than it being knockout.”
Tuohy’s return from injury was boosted by the news that a hand injury to star Patrick Dangerfield would not keep him out of this weekend’s semi-final.Cats edge past Giants in AFLGeelong have edged past Greater Western Sydney by 10 points in an entertaining AFL clash at Simonds Stadium.
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Geelong coach Chris Scott says the Cats passed a big test of character as they snapped a two-game losing streak with a 10-point AFL win over the brave GWS Giants at Simonds Stadium.
After seven lead changes in the opening three quarters, it was the Cats' big guns who stood tall in the closing stages as the home side won 14.14 (98) to 14.4 (88)
Skipper Joel Selwood had 12 of his 29 disposals in the final term, while Tom Hawkins kicked two late goals, including a 50m bomb to stretch the margin back to 10 points.
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He's been doing the work, he's got a good technique and it's not as if he's had a shocking run with his goalkicking - he's just been a part of our goalkicking problems.
But the pattern is clear. We had 28 shots but only won by a couple of goals so we need to improve there.
I was proud of the way we hung in there and hung in there and hung in there and gave ourselves a massive chance halfway through the last quarter, said GWS coach Leon Cameron.
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Those brain fades included two successive 50m penalties against GWS early in the final term which gifted goals to Hawkins and Selwood.
Zac Smith was clearly the best ruckman on the ground, while Geelong's key backmen Harry Taylor and Tom Lonergan proved way too good for the Giants' young attacking stars Jeremy Cameron and Jonathan Patton in difficult, slippery conditions.
The mercurial forward had kicked 452 goals in his decorated 253-game spell with the Cats but few of them would have been better than his flying snap from tight on the boundary in the right forward pocket in the fifth minute of Saturday's clash.
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If you don't believe, then that's why you fumble, that's why you make poor decisions around the footy and that's why you miss goals when you should kick goals.
It was a crucial victory for Geelong, who had dropped their previous two games to Collingwood and Carlton. They have improved their win-loss record to 8-3.
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