The road to the 2007 premiership

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2007

In 1999 Mark Thompson took over as the new coach of Geelong and the rebuilding began. After losing 4 grand finals from 1989 to 1995 the remnants of that non-successful superstar team was gone and Mark Thompson was put in charge to rebuild with the aim of taking the cats to their next flag. Our captain was Leigh Colbert and his decision to leave shocked Geelong and its supporters however proved quite an investment in that we received Cameron Mooney and pick 14 who ended up being Corey Enright. From then President Frank Costa and CEO Brian Cook had a challenge to bring Geelong out of debt and try and rebuild the side to win a flag. Bomber Thompson said Geelong would not be a contender until 2005 and would win in 2006, he was not far off. After a fortunate father son recruit of Mathew Scarlett and Gary Ablett and some excellent draft selections in Jimmy Bartel, Cameron Ling and Joel Corey, the cats were on their way to success. After some unsuccessful finals series along the way, Geelong suffered a devastating loss to Sydney in the 2005 semi final by a freak performance from Nick Davis with a 4 goal last quarter. Geelong won the 2006 pre season cup and some say it went to their head because they had one of the most disappointing seasons considering they are excellent young list finishing 10th missing out on finals.

At the end of 2006, Frank Costa and Brian Cook underwent a massive review of the club, its performance, all staff and all players. The media suggested Mark Thompson would be sacked as coach considering the poor year and some off field issues involving Bomber and some players. After the review there were several players and staff that left. Then comes 2007!

The 2007 Season

After the 2006 review there was a lot of pressure put on the Cats with Defender Tom Harley named as captain and Mark Thompson to remain as coach. With a Shaky start to the season with a couple of losses the cats were immediately put under the pump. After the loss to the Kangaroos in round 4 I believe it was a reality check for the team, on paper they have the most consistent list in the AFL with some emerging superstars in Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel. After the Round 4 loss the Cats brought it all together and racked up a 15 game winning streak which put them as clear front runners as the minor and major premiers. In round 21 we were beaten by Port Adelaide in a heart wrenching game at Skilled Stadium. In the final minutes Gary Ablett Jnr kicked and amazing goal, after breaking though a pack, weaving through several opposition players and kicking my favourite goal for the year. With 3 seconds to go, Port Adelaide kicked a goal which brought our streak to an end.

Some say that Geelong needed a loss before going into the finals and that it would help them. We will never know for sure, but either way that game was of no significance because it was a dead rubber considering we were going to finish atop the ladder.

They guys first final was against the Kangaroos at the MCG. I was lucky enough to be in a corporate box to witness the massive 106 point win with Mooney and Chapman kicking 5 goals each and Gary Ablett and Mathew Scarlett in the best.

This win put us through to the first preliminary final against Collingwood. Personally, this was our grand final. We won by 5 points in front of 98,002 crowd and the atmosphere was nothing like I have ever experienced. I was again lucky enough to be there. The final siren sounded after a boundary throw in Collingwoods forward line and if there were any more time, who knows what might have happened, but we were the best team and we won, despite being restricted to a below average performance.

This win gave us a spot in the AFL Grand Final and we were to play Port Adelaide. As confident as I was, there were many skeptics considering Geelongs history of choking in Grand Finals in the previous 2 decades as well the fact Port beat us in Round 21. But the skeptics were wrong.

Geelong picked up a variety of awards which arguably makes them the most successful side of all time. Their awards include.

2007 AFL Grand Final Summary

This was the biggest winning margin in a grand final in AFL history, the margin, 119 points. The cats played text book football all day, run and carry down the corridor as much as they could and kicking perfectly to a lead or a one on one in the forward line. Steve Johnson was on fire, kicking 4 goals, setting up just as many and racking up possessions and simply doing what he does best and picking the Norm Smith medal. Ablett, of the Nathan variety and Cam Mooney did their jobs well as forwards kicking 3 and 5 respectively and Paul Chapman, kicked 4 goals and could have been a deserving winner of the Norm Smith Medal. As well as him, Mathew Scarlett played one of the best games of his career, devastating Tredrea and Westhoff, running off them all day and igniting the centre corridor run and carry as well as holding Port Adelaide to a dismal 6 goals.

All in all it has been a long time coming and I have had some heart breaking seasons but being in the crowd with my dad and brother soaking up the atmosphere, it was the greatest day of my life and I will never forget it. GO CATS IN 2008!

The stats

Score
Team 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Total
Geelong 5.7 11.13 18.7 24.19 163
Port Adelaide 2.2 4.3 5.5 6.8 44

BEST: GEEL - S. Johnson, Chapman, Scarlett, King, Mooney, Corey, Enright; PA - C. Cornes, P. Burgoyne, K. Cornes

NORM SMITH MEDAL: S Johnson (Geelong)

UMPIRES: McBurney, McLaren, McInerney

CROWD: 97,302 at the MCG

Acknowledgements

The Official Geelong Football Club Websitewww.gfc.com.au

The AgeThe age

Real Footy for the statisticswww.realfooty.com.au

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