{"id":90489,"date":"2025-08-23T17:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/90489\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:34:09","slug":"cats-secure-top-two-spot-after-disposing-of-plucky-tigers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/90489\/","title":{"rendered":"Cats secure top-two spot after disposing of plucky Tigers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                Rhys Stanley celebrates after scoring a goal during the match between Richmond and Geelong at the MCG in round 24, 2025. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>GEELONG has secured second spot on the ladder with a comprehensive 39-point win over Richmond at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>The Cats led at every break to win easily over the 17th placed Tigers 14.19 (103) to 9.10 (64) in front of a crowd of 46,109.<\/p>\n<p>TIGERS v CATS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/afl\/matches\/7167\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Full match coverage and stats<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the Cats&#8217; sixth win in a row and it ensures they have a home qualifying final and a double chance when the finals kick off in two weeks&#8217; time.<\/p>\n<p>Geelong will play either Hawthorn or Brisbane in the first week of finals, pending the result of Sunday night&#8217;s match between the two sides.<\/p>\n<p>Cats spearhead Jeremy Cameron booted four goals and four behinds on his quest to win his second Coleman Medal. He is now on 83 goals for the season, a career-high for the four-time All-Australian.<\/p>\n<p>The well-drilled Cats looked a class above their opponents, particularly with their entries inside 50, which were far more organised and methodical compared to the younger less experienced Tigers.<\/p>\n<p>The run and carry from the Cats&#8217; mids, in particular Max Holmes (26 disposals, 677m gained) and Bailey Smith (34 disposals, 10 inside 50s, 594m gained) provided their forwards with plenty of supply.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8216;Dash Brothers&#8217; were joined by local hero Tom Atkins (27 disposals, nine tackles) in his 150th game since joining the Cats from their VFL program back in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Geelong had eight individual goal kickers, putting together a string of nine unanswered goals from midway through the first quarter until the 20 minute mark of the third term.<\/p>\n<p>Gryan Miers was the only injury scare, going down into the rooms in the second term for a HIA assessment after a head-high collision with Kamdyn McIntosh, but returned to the ground later in the quarter.<\/p>\n<p>There were some positives for Richmond in its final match of the season.<\/p>\n<p>The Tigers outscored Geelong in the final term, kicking five goals to the Cats&#8217; one when the sting was well and truly out of the game.<\/p>\n<p>Young defender Josh Gibcus made a successful return to the AFL, playing his first game in 527 days after a number of long-term injuries. Gibcus was subbed out tactically in the third quarter.<\/p>\n<p>The Tigers&#8217; combination of youth and experience continues to build, with Tim Taranto (27 disposals, seven clearances), Jacob Hopper (29, four) and Dion Prestia (28, two goals) leading the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Youngsters Sam Banks (30 disposals) and Tom Brown (20, one goal) both put together solid performances to finish what has arguably been their best seasons in yellow and black.<\/p>\n<p>Tigers fans also said farewell to stalwart Kamdyn McIntosh, playing his last game for the club after two premierships and 213 games.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart and Rioli clash late<br \/>In the dying seconds of Saturday&#8217;s game, there was an incident between Maurice Rioli and Tom Stewart where the Geelong defender made contact with Rioli&#8217;s head. The two were trying to gather a loose ball just outside the centre square, and while Rioli puts his head over the ball he connects with Stewart&#8217;s elbow. Both coaches played down the incident, but it is sure to be looked at by the Match Review Officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Atkins breaks record<br \/>Midfield bull Tom Atkins notched up more than one milestone in Saturday&#8217;s match. Along with his 150 games, Atkins broke the record for the most number of tackles laid in a season. Atkins surpassed Scott Selwood on 202 tackles, his nine tackles against Richmond making it 205 from his 23 games this season.<\/p>\n<p>RICHMOND\u00a0 \u00a0 2.2\u00a0 \u00a0 2.3\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 4.6 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 9.10 (64)\u00a0<br \/>GEELONG\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a06.7\u00a0 \u00a0 11.12\u00a0 \u00a013.17\u00a0 \u00a014.19 (103)<\/p>\n<p>GOALS<br \/>Richmond:\u00a0Lynch 3, Campbell 2, Prestia 2, Mansell, Brown<br \/>Geelong:\u00a0Cameron 4, Dangerfield 2, Stengle 2, Mannagh 2, Bowes, Stanley, Dempsey, Martin<\/p>\n<p>BEST<br \/>Richmond:\u00a0Taranto, Prestia, Hopper, Brown, Banks<br \/>Geelong:\u00a0Smith, Holmes, Miers, Stewart, Cameron<\/p>\n<p>INJURIES<br \/>Richmond:\u00a0Nil<br \/>Geelong:\u00a0Nil<\/p>\n<p>SUBSTITUTES<br \/>Richmond: Luke Trainor (replaced Josh Gibcus in the third quarter)<br \/>Geelong: Mitch Knevitt (replaced Mark Blicavs in the fourth quarter)<\/p>\n<p>Crowd: 46,109 at the MCG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rhys Stanley celebrates after scoring a goal during the match between Richmond and Geelong at the MCG in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-90489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}