The door remains slightly ajar for Geelong. It shouldn’t be – but it is.
The Cats have been indecisive with the ball in hand, plagued by cough-ups, while their defence has been systematically picked apart by Port Adelaide.
Yet the Power only lead by 24 points at the final break, a margin which should be greater but for another wayward quarter in front of the big sticks.
It was one-way traffic as the footy lived inside the Power’s attacking 50 at the River End in that third term, but their 2.7 return – plus two shots that sailed out on the full – has given the Cats a pulse.
Is it time for Patrick Dangerfield to conjure an Anzac Day cameo and have a spell in the middle? He has wasted away in attack so far, mustering just one touch – a minute into the game – in three quarters. The Cats need to pull a rabbit out of the hat here. They have already used up most of their nine lives.