Heroes slay monster in fairytales
ONCE upon a time …
Isn’t that how this is sup- posed to start?
This is a fairytale after all. Apparently.
Fairytales have heroes. Saturday’s AFL Grand Final has plenty of those.
There’s Gary Ablett, Gee- long’s prodigal son, returned.
Patrick Dangerfield and Zach Tuohy, a pair of brave knights on a long quest who finally have a glimpse of the holy grail.
Joel Selwood, once a boy wonder, now a battle-hardened warrior. And even La- chie Henderson, who was s discarded a year ago but came e back harder than the Mighty y Ducks.
Then, there is Richmond, , last year’s giant slayer.
Marlion Pickett was its fairytale last year, and Dustin Martin could go where no man has gone before to win a third Norm Smith Medal.
But if this is a fairytale, then in this town, in the pages of this newspaper, the Tigers are this year’s villain.
They are innocent enough to look at. But don’t be fooled.
Richmond is a gruesome, intimidating monster.
It plays with ferocity, and suffocates its opponents with pressure, then surges forward when it has the ball, keeping it in perpetual motion before making its deadly strike.
It used to be Geelong’s whipping boy. Not any more.
The plates shifted three years ago. The Cats were minor premier and host of the qualifying final on that Friday night at the MCG.
But the “home” ground greeting was hostile, first from the bloodthirsty black-andyellow army, then the frontliners on the floor of the colosseum. Geelong had two goals by halftime, and four at the orange break. The scoreboard suggested it was still in the game, but it wasn’t.
Years of Richmond heartbreak and agony spilled out as the Tigers romped to victory and mapped their course to the 2017 premiership.
The sleeping giant woke, and has dominated the AFL landscape since.
Geelong licked its wounds, and contemplated the horror that had been unleashed. Its destiny had been cast. If it wanted the ultimate prize the team would have to slay this monster.
The myth of Ablett’s return became reality in 2018, but the Cats were off pace. They made finals but had been banished when an unlikely American in black and white ambushed the monster before it reached its goal. Last year the Cats were flying. Their 67-point win over Richmond in Round 12 looked to be a turning point, and it was, just not the one they hoped it would be.
From that point, Geelong’s season spluttered and Richmond’s sparked up.
Until preliminary final night. At halftime, the Cats were up by 21 points.
But the Tigers roared to life from the opening of the second half and could not be stopped on their way to a second premiership in three years.
Once again the prophets of doom circled the Cats.
They were apparently afflicted with an ageing list, a poor finals record and a coach who — depending on who you listened to — was either too smart for his own good or didn’t have a Plan B.
The Cats bulked up their list with more seasoned warriors, but will not call on Jack Steven or Josh Jenkins. Ironically, the only recruit they will use is Henderson, the bloke they recalled for that Richmond final last year, then delisted.
Season 2020 started unlike any other, and so it will finish on Saturday night. But at least there will be a crowd, albeit just 30,000.
Coronavirus tried to derail the season, but the AFL became a shapeshifter.
It squirmed and wriggled. It shrunk its quarters, its crowds, its scores and the number of those it employed.
But some things have stayed the same, and, for the Cats, the challenge of defeating the Richmond monster is bigger than ever.
Their only meeting this year was last month.
The Cats had one goal to three-quarter time, and lost.
It was an uncharacteristic performance in a season where their resilience, maturity and adaptability had shone.
The forward line looked much different then. Ablett was tending to family, Gary Rohan absent and Dangerfield a midfielder.
The Tigers also look stronger on paper, and have the chance to turn a golden run into a dynasty.
They know what it takes, and have the skill, commitment and experience to do it again.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said on Friday he always knew his team would have to confront Richmond if it wanted to win the premiership.
But the opposite is also true: the Tigers have only reached the top recently when they have conquered Geelong near the summit.
Scott’s team carries scars and blisters of failed missions because premierships are not easily won.
Occasionally teams win them early. But more often than not, they have to strive for longer than imagined, and sacrifice more than they had hoped to fulfil their destiny.
But if they do, they might live happily ever after.