Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield says he is devastated for his deputy and close friend Tom Stewart.
Stewart will miss next Saturday’s grand final due to a concussion suffered in the Cats’ courageous preliminary final win over Hawthorn on Friday night.
The star defender will become the first AFL men’s player to miss a decider under the league’s guidelines that mandate a compulsory 12-day break after he was concussed when crunched to the ground by Hawk Mabior Chol late in the first quarter at the MCG.
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Dangerfield said it was a credit to Geelong’s defence that they were able to overcome the loss of the vice-captain to defeat Hawthorn by 30 points, but acknowledged it was clearly a difficult time for the 2022 premiership Cat.
“Absolutely (it is). He’s one of my great friends,” Dangerfield said.
Ouch! Stewart CRASHES down injured | 00:31
“So it’s not just that playing part for me, it’s the person that he is, and he’s been such an enormous part of the success that we’ve been able to have as a club over a long period of time. So it’s a really difficult one to digest for us.
“(I’m) enormously proud of our guys and the way they were able to cover such an enormous loss. But it’s still (raw), to be honest. The game finished half an hour ago, so I’m not too sure what to think right at this very moment in time.”
After playing only one game in a month – a dominant qualifying final victory over Brisbane – the Cats were errant early as their match-hardened rivals kicked the first three goals of the match.
But the champion skipper kicked the first of his three goals in a best afield performance late in the first term to give Geelong a toehold in the cut-throat final and they were able to wrestle the momentum their way from midway through the second term.
A seven goal to three third term broke the preliminary final apart and Geelong was able to withstand the Hawks final surge in the last term to reach their sixth grand final in the last 18 seasons.
“I mean, so much of finals is absorbing pressure and then applying your own and they pressured us really well and we didn’t execute super in that first quarter,” he said.
BIG Baz dagger fires Cats to Grand Final | 00:45
“We weren’t great from that 80 to 50 (metre) zone and turned the ball over and narrow score on the back of it. And sometimes those (moments) could be 12 point plays, because there’s opportunities to score. We turn it over and they score. And you can feel like, ‘Oh, they’ve got all the flow.’
“Whereas, actually, if you distil it down, and we’ll obviously forensically review it (and) there’ll be things to learn, but there’s plenty that we needed to address that was not just their pressure, but how we were using it. And we did that a lot better from quarter time onward.”
The Cats will monitor the fitness of defender Jack Henry, who was forced to receive treatment in the rooms for a leg issue in the first term after being assisted from the ground but was able to return to perform soundly on Jack Gunston.
Jack Martin also had strapping around a calf muscle but the Cats believe he will be fine for the grand final.
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