Hawthorn have surged to an extraordinary one-point win over Geelong with Jack Gunston the hero at the death in another Easter Monday classic.
In the teams’ first meeting since Patrick Dangerfield’s heroics put Hawthorn to the sword in last year’s preliminary final, evergreen Jack Gunston kicked a point with 13 seconds left to deliver a 13.14 (92) to 14.7 (91) victory.
Shannon Neale marked and kicked his fourth goal with less than two minutes left to give Geelong a six-point lead, before Mitch Lewis repeated the feat at the other end to draw Hawthorn level with 51 seconds remaining.
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Then Hawthorn skipper James Sicily – who played through a right shoulder injury – took a huge contested mark in defence and kick-started an end-to-end play that finished with Gunston scrapping the winning point.
The game was played on a knife’s edge, with multiple lead changes but Geelong led by a game-high 13 in the fourth and appeared set to kick away for victory before a miraculous Nick Watson snap from the pocket inspired a Hawthorn surge.
Mabior Chol kicked a goal then put the Hawks in front with two behinds, though he should have goaled with both.
Neale and Mark Blicavs missed two golden opportunities to restore Geelong’s lead before Jeremy Cameron drew Chris Scott’s Cats level.
Then chaos ensued before the game’s hectic finish.
The Hawks will sweat on Sicily’s right shoulder and Gunston’s right hamstring ahead of Saturday’s Gather Round blockbuster with the unbeaten Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval.
Evergreen Gunston worked over Jack Henry and kicked 3.4 while Watson kicked three superb goals and Jack Ginnivan (two goals) was lively.
Josh Ward (29 disposals) provided a superb presence around the ball, especially in the first half while Connor Macdonald (26) was excellent when it counted.
For Geelong, Bailey Smith (33 disposals) worked tirelessly in midfield, with support from Max Holmes (27 disposals) and Tanner Bruhn (26) while Tom Stewart was strong down back and Mitch Edwards held his own in the ruck.
Cats gun Gryan Miers had a fitness test before the game but played.
Hawthorn flew out of the blocks in Sam Mitchell’s 100th match as coach and would have felt they deserved more than their eight-point quarter-time lead.
There were five lead changes in the second quarter alone, with the highlight coming when Watson burst through traffic and kicked a remarkable goal from just inside the boundary.
Geelong led by nine at halftime and after the Cats spurned multiple chances to extend their lead in the third term, Ginnivan put the Hawks in front by four – the game’s seventh lead change – with a shot after the siren.
After a tense start to the final term, Geelong kicked three goals on the spin to build their 13-point lead.
But the Hawks always looked capable of a surge and delivered one for the ages.
Geelong face West Coast at Norwood Oval on Sunday.
