Of last week’s vibrant and fluent Brisbane,there was little to be seen. At half-time,vaunted forwards Charlie Cameron and Dan McStay were both kickless,Eric Hipwood had had just two and Daniher had had no impact and would remain goal-less.It’s inescapable that the Lions functioned better without Daniher last week,but it would have been a brave match committee that overlooked him.

It’s more probable that Brisbane simply came to a natural end. From the last minute of their elimination final,they had been living on borrowed time anyway. Now it ran out. Lachie Neale has been exceptional this September,but at half-time had had only eight touches. The Cats did not tag him;they just kept the ball out of his reach. He would remain a peripheral influence.

Cam Rayner was creative,but a badly twisted ankle early in the second half put an end to his night and season.

Geelong worked hard,and made hard work of it. More accurately,it was backbreaking work that in time broke the Lions’ back. All-Australian captain Tom Hawkins kicked one goal from his first five shots. Sheer weight of opportunity meant that he would finish with four.

Jeremy Cameron,as per his brief,roamed up and down the ground,but could not bring the game to heel as he had in the qualifying final. Consummate footballer that he is,he busied himself with the detail and left others to look after the big picture. There was a goal for him eventually,in the half-hour of junk time that was the last quarter. It was like a pat on the head.

Geelong’s strengths were their evergreens. Tom Stewart,Zac Tuohy and Sam de Koning were impassable in defence. So,more pleasingly for the Cats,was Jake Kolodjashnij. A hallmark of this Geelong team is its even-ness. It doesn't stop at 22.

Paddy Dangerfield was both prolific and penetrating in a best-on-ground performance and Joel Selwood got a free kick for a high tackle,whereupon the Cats knew that all was well in the world. Abetted by a 50-metre penalty,he even kicked a rare latter-day goal. In the grand final,he will break the record for finals games played. But don’t expect him to rest on those laurels.

Earlier on Friday,it was announced that Dr Allen Aylett had died. Aylett was the architect of the national competition and in a way,this was his vision,foundation and frontier clubs duelling on the biggest stage. Anticipation was high.

But Aylett was a savvy footballer before he was a visionary administrator,and he would have known that in footy,sometimes you just take what you get. For Geelong,that was plenty enough.

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