Cats want a home final

GEELONG will request a home final at GMHBA Stadium should it finish in fifth or sixth position on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season.

Despite their stunning come-from-behind win against Melbourne on Saturday night, the Cats sit just outside of the top eight, but with a logjam of sides between fourth and ninth on the AFL table separated by only four points, there is still a multitude of possibilities as to where they will finish at the end of Round 23.

There is still a mathematical chance that Geelong could finish in second position, which would also give it the right to a home final, but given the run home that teams around them have in the next five weeks the stronger likelihood is that Chris Scott’s men will be closer to fifth or sixth.

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said while there was still a lot to play out on the field before any September requests could be put in, the Cats would be asking that their first final be played at GMHBA Stadium if they qualified for a home match.

“We will, absolutely,” Cook said.

“Particularly if we are playing against an interstate side, if we were playing Port Adelaide or Adelaide or Sydney, we would be very much (wanting a home final).

“And I think we would (against Melbourne or North Melbourne) as well.”

The last time the Cats hosted a final in Geelong was 2013 when a perfect storm saw Hawthorn, Richmond and Collingwood earn home finals at the MCG, meaning with the AFL unable to schedule two games at the home of football on the one day Geelong was granted a home final against Fremantle.

Enhancing Geelong’s hopes is the fact that those same three teams, as well as Mel- bourne, are on track to qualify for home finals this year, but Cook acknowledged the Cats were somewhat reliant on everything falling into place for them to get the nod again.

“I’m more confident now than I have been in previous years, but it is still not a nobrainer, that’s for sure,” he said.

“The AFL is still very concerned about attendances and they have a formula of adding together both teams’ membership numbers and seeing if the stadium is big enough, so they try to work out what the attendance is going to be and then figure out the stadium from there.

“So we’re still waiting on the perfect storm to hit us again, no doubt … but we need to qualify for finals first.”

Geelong has three of its last five matches — against Brisbane, Fremantle and Gold Coast — at home, as well as away games at the MCG against Richmond and Hawthorn.