Throughout history various philosophers have grappled with the meaning of life. Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and a multitude of authors of diverse religious texts all tried. As society became more complex, the question became attached to specific endeavours in life even including sporting pursuits where such questions arose among our game’s commentariat as, “what is the meaning of football”?

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin must be tired of dealing with such a dilemma but, in doing so, he mocks his detractors. On Saturday night, his Demons, laden with some promising young talent, made a powerful statement against the previously unbeaten and older Cats. Their 8-point victory saw them strengthen their place among the league leaders and they now hold a 6/2 record after the passage of a third of the season. It sent out a message to all and sundry — don’t mess with us or you’ll soon learn the meaning of football. 

In case you hadn’t noticed, football pundits have been pumping up Geelong’s tires of late. The Cats were going through something of a revival thanks to an opening seven game winning streak after last year’s disappointing fall from grace. Jeremy Cameron was the latest big thing: his place in the game was touching on the stratospheric. Careers were being reinvented in many different ways. You had the  “The Swarm”, which is another name for their bevy of small forwards like Miers, Stengle and Close who, by their deadly efficient ball movement, have been a revelation so far in 2024. With the ascendency of Cameron and Hawkins, they formed a formidable forward line capable of racking up remarkably accurate score lines such as their 17.4 (106) in their Easter Monday demolition of the Hawks.

Last week, the Cats overcame the Blues in an exhilarating shootout, with victory secured as a result of some dead eye kicking for goal. Carlton came at them late with a barrage of goals to post a century plus losing score and it was that precise scenario which provided Goodwin with the ways and means of overcoming his own critics as well as the competition’s most accurate attack on a cold autumn night just seven days later. With defensive pressure.

The game was a played out as a dour arm wrestle which suited Demon defenders Jake Lever, Steven May and Tom McDonald who went about applying the sleeper hold on Cameron and Hawkins who both ended up goalless. At the same time, the smaller and medium defenders put the clamps on the Geelong swarm. Thanks to the young brigade headed by Trent Rivers and including Judd McVee and Blake Howes, they sucked the breath out of Geelong’s much vaunted straight shooting attacking machine. They put them through the wringer after the opening break with the first goalless quarter in two years, resulting in a score line of 2.8 (20) at half time. Melbourne’s score was little better but the winning plan had already been put into place.

The premiership quarter turned out the Cats’ best and the one that proved their most accurate while the Demons were badly off target. Enter Goodwin’s critics who were seething with disgust about the cheek of putting on a style that was depriving fandom of the thrills and spills of a circus. Why on earth should the producers of this drab unforgettable contest have the temerity to command bulk primetime viewing at the AFL table?

Simon’s answer came in an absorbingly entertaining, see-saw of a final quarter with eye-catching highlights provided by the skipper and by far the competition’s best ruckman in Max Gawn, the unstoppable Lever and May and an energised Clayton Oliver who somehow willed his way in and out of packs with ease.

Finally, let’s not forget the forward line brilliance and magic of Bayley Fritsch and Kozzie Pickett who filled the game’s highlights package. Nearing the end, at the 26 minute and 22 second mark of the term, the former dribbled through a spectacular goal from the boundary line to deliver homeward those vital four premiership points. At that very moment, the meaning of football was revealed.

MELBOURNE 3.2.20 3.7.25 5.14.44 10.14.74

GEELONG 2.4.16 2.8.20 6.10.46 9.12.66

GOALS

MELBOURNE Fritsch 3 Pickett 2 Chandler Gawn Langdon Petty Windsor

GEELONG  Henry Stengle 2 Clark Close Dempsey Z Guthrie Holmes

BEST

MELBOURNE Lever Gawn Oliver Fritsch May Pickett

GEELONG Holmes Z Guthrie Atkins Stewart Miers

INJURIES

MELBOURNE Nil

GEELONG Bruhn (shoulder)

REPORTS

MELBOURNE Nil

GEELONG Nil

SUBSTITUTIONS

MELBOURNE Bailey Laurie, replaced Jack Billings in the fourth term

GEELONG Gary Rohan, replaced Tanner Bruhn in the third term

UMPIRES Justin Power Hayden Gavine Simon Meredith Andre Gianfagna

CROWD 51,795 at the MCG

Absolutely brilliant writing …enjoyed that summation !!