Sydney have pulled off a thrilling come-from-behind win to thump Geelong by 30 points and take their winning streak to eight matches.
The league leaders were goalless and trailed by 29 points at Sunday’s first change before Joel Amartey kick-started a chain of five unanswered majors to bamboozle the Cats.
Amartey and Tom Papley slammed through two goals each in the third quarter to help Sydney to an 11-point lead before a high-octane Swans unit overwhelmed the Cats to win 16.16(112) to 12.10(82).
The victory before a 44,714-strong crowd at the SCG was coach John Longmire’s 200th at the helm.
Errol Gulden (one goal, 37 touches) went to work in the Swans’ engine room while red-hot Chad Warner (two, 26) and Brownlow Medal favourite Isaac Heeney (two, 26) stole the show.
Papley kicked a game-high four goals – his first coming after 26 minutes in the third term – followed by Amartey’s haul of three.
Sydney’s James Jordon (one goal) was again deployed as a defensive forward against All-Australian defender Tom Stewart (20 touches).
Stewart’s fellow Geelong backmen Max Holmes (23 touches) and Tom Atkins (20 touches) were earnest in their attempts to hold down the fort, while Jeremy Cameron (two goals) was held goalless until the final term.
Geelong had stunned with a cutthroat opening term performance, punishing the hosts from turnover and kicking five goals to none in the opening term.
Tyson Stengle (three goals) showed flashes of his premiership best with a magnificent dribbling goal from the pocket, before kicking his second to send the Cats into the first change well on top.
The visitors looked primed to continue their dominance until Amartey finally kicked Sydney’s first major of the evening to reignite his wayward side late in the second term.
Playing like a team possessed, Sydney trimmed their 35-point deficit to five points within 10 minutes, with big guns Will Hayward, Warner and Heeney piling five unanswered goals on the visitors.
Geelong tried to scrape back into the game, kicking three consecutive majors in the final term, but Warner killed their momentum with a spectacular individual goal.
© AAP 2024
