Geelong v Hawthorn: AFL 2025 first preliminary final - live

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Q1: 11 mins remaining: Geelong 0.1.1 - Hawthorn 2.2.14

Jack Ginnivan snaps the Hawks second after intense pressure deep in the forward pockets forces a hurried grubber from Oisin Mullin. The Hawks efficiency near goal has been the difference so far. Conor Nash wraps Mullin up in a tackle to earn a free kick but his left-foot snap from long range is rushed through for a behind.

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Updated at 05.57 EDT

Q1: 13 mins remaining: Geelong 0.1.1 - Hawthorn 1.1.7

Max Holmes dribbles a shot off the outside of his boot from the boundary line but a pair of Hawks defenders prevent Ollie Dempsey volleying it through from less than a metre out. The Cats have had 7-3 inside 50s but the Hawks have shown this finals series that they can withstand a flurry of attacks. Mitch Lewis has a second set shot but slightly slices his kick.

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Q1: 15 mins remaining: Geelong 0.0.0 - Hawthorn 1.0.6

Patrick Dangerfield is in the centre bounce and gets the ball back to ruck Mark Blicavs to bomb forward. Bailey Smith gets his hands on the ball for the first time and pops a kick into the goal square that the Hawks eventually clear from their defensive 50 after a couple of failed attempts. Cats controlling much of the territory early.

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Updated at 05.53 EDT

Q1: 17 mins remaining: Geelong 0.0.0 - Hawthorn 1.0.6

The Cats lock the ball forward and Tom Atkins is busy early. The midfielder has the first opportunity within range of goal but only half-heartedly takes the shot. The Hawks gather in the goalsquare and launch a transition that ends with a mark to Mitch Lewis just inside the 50m arc. The key forward had little impact in teh semi-final against the Crows but gives the Hawks the best possible start at the MCG.

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Updated at 05.54 EDT

Q1: 19 mins remaining: Geelong 0.0.0 - Hawthorn 0.0.0

Tom Atkins lines up on Jai Newcombe at the opening bounce and gets the first centre clearance. But the rugged Cats onballer kicks it straight down James Sicily’s throat. Ollie Dempsey and Josh Weddle start on opposite wings but hopefully that’s a head=to-head matchup we see throughout the game.

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First bounce

Geelong’s Mark Blicavs and Hawthorn’s Lloyd Meek leap for the ball as the rivalry returns and the preliminary final begins at the MCG.

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Updated at 05.46 EDT

The Welcome to Country and national anthem are complete. The players on both sides launch into a couple more run throughs no doubt to loosen the mind as much as their limbs at this stage.

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Geelong are in premiership contention yet again. As they have been for almost all of the past 19 seasons. They have as much interest in mid-ladder mediocrity as in bottoming out to rebuild. They have become a destination club for players looking to leave behind the hustle and bustle of Victoria’s capital city. An escape from the most intense glare of the local football media. Their door is always open for young guns seeking to return to the region after being drafted out of the hotbed of talent for an early stint interstate.

Yet for all that Geelong have achieved across their period of sustained success that defies the AFL’s aims for equalisation, and with the promise of much more to come, one club continues to haunt the Cats more than any other.

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Geelong and Hawthorn are each within touching distance of a grand final with well-balanced sides packed with forward firepower, backlines that blend defence and attack, and midfields stacked with talent and workhorses.

The Cats take more marks inside 50 than any other side at an average 16.2 a game, and have a wealth of finals experience as well as a playing list in rude health. The Hawks have found a strength at centre clearances that can break finals open with onballer Jai Newcombe leading the way, and have momentum behind them after back-to-back wins on the road.

Here is where the game will be won – and lost.

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Geelong have put an unenviable period of heartache behind them that included four grand final defeats in seven seasons to become a powerhouse of the game. Four premierships in the past 18 seasons – and two wins away from adding a fifth this year – will do that to you.

Dean Sherr remembers his grandfather living through the entirety of the Cats’ 44-year premiership drought while appreciating that, for himself, “to follow Geelong in these times is a privilege”.

In these uncertain times of global instability, rising extremism, war and violence, sport is as important an escape as ever. For my grandfather, that escape carried more disappointment than fulfilment. For me, it has become the opposite – reliable salvation from the horrors of the world and the pitfalls of everyday life. As we live out this fantastical sporting ride, I wonder what he might have made of the last two decades.

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This is how the Cats and Hawks ended up at the MCG for this preliminary final.

Hawthorn have had to do it the hard way after missing out on a top-four spot with a defeat in the last round to Brisbane. But the Hawks have since won back-to-back finals on the road when stunning GWS Giants in an elimination final, and then knocking out Adelaide with a hugely impressive performance in their semi-final against the minor premiers.

Geelong spent six rounds on the run home fine-tuning for finals against teams already out of contention then quickly laid down a marker once the finals began with a resounding victory over the Lions. The Cats have enjoyed a weekend off which means they have only played one game in the past 27 days, but with their wealth of experience in reaching this stage of the campaign I suspect they might have their preparation down pat.

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Preliminary final week lands with both games at the MCG for just the second time since 2011 and with the past three premiers still involved – as well as a club with a rich history and all the momentum, belief and history on their side.

Jonathan Horn is at the MCG tonight to cover the first preliminary final between Geelong and Hawthorn, and pointed out earlier this week that we have got to this point of the season with the four best teams of the year – and arguably the four best clubs of the century – remaining.

In the most lopsided, compromised and incomprehensible home and away fixture anyone could conjure up, we have still landed with the four best teams. It includes the past three premiers, as well as a club with all the momentum, all the belief and all the history on their side.

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Here is how Geelong and Hawthorn have been named.

GEELONG

B: Connor O’Sullivan, Sam De Koning, Jack Henry

HB: Mark O’Connor, Tom Stewart, Zach Guthrie

C: Jack Bowes, Max Holmes, Oliver Dempsey

HF: Tyson Stengle, Shaun Mannagh, Brad Close

F: Shannon Neale, Jeremy Cameron, Patrick Dangerfield

FOLL: Mark Blicavs, Bailey Smith, Tom Atkins

I/C: Lawson Humphries, Jack Martin, Gryan Miers, Oisin Mullin

Sub: Jhye Clark

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HAWTHORN

B: Josh Battle, Tom Barrass, Blake Hardwick

HB: Jarman Impey, James Sicily, Massimo D’Ambrosio

C: Karl Amon, Josh Ward, Dylan Moore

HF: Josh Weddle, Mabior Chol, Nick Watson

F: Jack Gunston, Mitch Lewis, Connor Macdonald

FOLL: Lloyd Meek, Jai Newcombe, Conor Nash

I/C: Jack Scrimshaw, James Worpel, Jack Ginnivan, Sam Butler

Sub: Changkuoth Jiath

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Final teams

Teams are in with no further changes.

Geelong name Jhye Clark as their sub just as he was against Brisbane a couple of weeks ago. Changkuoth Jiath also reprises his role as Hawthorn’s 23rd player after starting as the sub in their past two finals.

The Cats have resisted the urge to rush Rhys Stanley back from injury with Mark Blicavs and Sam De Koning proving more than capable in the ruck against the Lions.

The Hawks back Mitch Lewis to have a greater impact after underwhelming during the win over the Crows. The luckless key forward was subbed out of the semi-final during the third term after going scoreless and only gathering four disposals. But when Jack Gunston is arguably in the form of his life and the rest of the forward group is settled, it makes sense to stick with the three-tall set up that has been working so well.

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Preamble

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the AFL preliminary final between Geelong and Hawthorn at the MCG. We are all but assured of a match to remember given what these two sides have regularly dished up when facing each other over the past two decades. But an all-time shock grand final result, goals and behinds kicked after the siren to win games, the “Kennett Curse”, and a shot sprayed wide that cost the Hawks the game the last time they took on the Cats in a final are all in the past. This match is all about the future and earning a spot in the 2025 grand final against Collingwood or Brisbane.

The Cats are rightly the favourites after putting together a six-match winning streak to finish off their home and away campaign, then extending that with a masterful display against the Lions in their qualifying final. But no Geelong supporter will be pleased with again meeting Hawthorn in a final, especially when there are no second chances. The Hawks have won all four cut-throat finals between the sides since the Cats took out the first of their three grand finals way back in 1963.

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The Hawks return to the preliminary final stage for the first time in a decade and since they completed their premiership three-peat in 2015. Hawthorn might have finished in eighth place this year but have since shown they have the personnel and game plan built for finals as they outgunned GWS Giants and dismantled Adelaide for back-to-back wins on the road. Back at the MCG, the Hawks will like their chances against a Cats outfit that they pushed all the way in their only other meeting this year on Easter Monday.

First bounce will be at 7.40pm local time / AEST. Team news will be coming shortly. Meanwhile, let us know your thoughts and predictions – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!

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