Puopolo revels in
Fierce rivalry brings expectations of yet another nail-biter
HAWTHORN had lost its previous five encounters with Geelong when Paul Puopolo first played against the Cats in Round 12, 2011.
The pre-match talk was all about the “Kennett curse” — whether the Hawks could break through for their first win against the Cats since the 2008 Grand Final.
It was in the lead-up to Round 1, 2009, the rematch between Hawthorn and Geelong, when Hawks president Jeff Kennett made a statement he was later left to rue.
“What they don’t have, I think, is the quality of some of our players; they don’t have the psychological drive we have,” Kennett said.
“We’ve beaten Geelong when it matters.”
Puopolo remembers the commentary vividly.
“When I started, that’s what the word was, the Kennett curse,” he recalled to the Geelong Advertiser.
“I didn’t believe anything into it because I’d just rocked up at the club and was like, ‘ What’s this curse about’.
“You don’t really buy into it about the Kennett curse, but Geelong were a really good side for many years and it was always a close game against them.”
That match, Round 12, 2011, resulted in Geelong’s sixth-straight win over the Hawks — yet another decided by less than a kick.
The Cats flew out of the blocks to lead by 19 at quarter-time.
The Hawks responded with five straight goals. The Cats then fired back with five straight of their own.
The Hawks banged five more on the trot, before two goals to Steve Johnson in the last term helped Geelong to a five-point win.
Momentum swings have been common in Geelong-Hawthorn battles.
Puopolo’s second game against Geelong was a qualifying final, later that year in 2011.
The 31-point win by the Cats was the biggest final margin in 11-straight wins against the Hawks. Nine were by 10 points or less.
Hawthorn finally broke the curse in the preliminary final of 2013, coming from 20 points down at threequarter time to prevail by five points, earning a ticket into the Grand Final that ended up providing the first of three straight premierships.
That preliminary final will be remembered for the Travis Varcoe miss, when he turned on his right foot with 30 seconds to go, only to push right his shot on goal that would have levelled the scores.
“I remember that final, you couldn’t even hear the umpire blow the whistle, it was that loud,” Puopolo said.
“It was one of the loudest games I played in front of. But the games all the way through; a couple of Easter Mondays where it got pretty close as well, just a couple of goals in it.
“That’s what everyone just looks