SUMMARY

GEELONG star Tom Stewart is a massive late out for the Cats for Thursday night's qualifying final against Port Adelaide due to illness, with Oisin Mullin replacing him in the starting side.

Stewart was subbed out of the Cats' round 24 game against West Coast with a hamstring issue and the club insisted this week he would play. But the five-time All-Australian woke up sick on Thursday morning and was a late withdrawal when the final team was announced this evening.

Port Adelaide v Geelong at Adelaide Oval, 7.10pm ACST  

LATE CHANGES
Port Adelaide: Nil
Geelong: Tom Stewart (illness) replaced in selected side by Oisin Mullin

SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Quinton Narkle
Geelong: Zach Tuohy

POWER v CATS Follow it LIVE

Stewart has been replaced by Mullin in the side, while veteran Zach Tuohy is the Cats' sub.

The Power are unchanged, with Quinton Narkle their sub.

Both these sides enter the finals in red-hot form.

Port has won eight of its past nine games, including the last six in a row, while the Cats have saluted in seven of their past nine. The Power begin September seeking their first Grand Final appearance in 12 seasons under coach Ken Hinkley but they'll have to get through the Cats, who missed the finals last year after winning the flag in 2022.

The prize of a home preliminary final is enormous, with the alternative being a road to the Grand Final through Sydney, where either the Swans or Giants will await.

Where and when: Adelaide Oval, Thursday September 5, 7.10pm ACST

WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR?

Round nine: Port Adelaide 15.11 (101) defeated Geelong 14.11 (95) at GMHBA Stadium

In one of the games of the season, Port Adelaide pulled off a successful raid at the Cattery in round nine, winning by six points. The game looked all but over at half-time when the Power led by 41 points, having led by as much as 49 midway through the second quarter, but Geelong roared home on the back of four goals from Tyson Stengle and Zach Guthrie's rebound from defence to close within a kick in the dying minutes. Willie Rioli also had four goals for Port, while Zak Butters (34 disposals, one goal) and Jason Horne-Francis (26 disposals, one goal) were brilliant for the Power. 

THE STATS THAT MATTER

Port Adelaide

The Power's midfield muscle isn't a one-way thing, with Port Adelaide among the AFL's best teams for defending stoppage. The Power are ranked second for both conceding points from total clearances and centre clearances. Port also ranks in the League's top two for pressure factor, winning 13 of the 17 games when it applies more heat than the opposition.   

Geelong

Defence has been one of the Cats' key improvements as they have enjoyed a form boost in the second half of the season. They've conceded just 75.6 points per game since round 16 – ranked sixth – compared to 105.1 points per games from round 7-15, which ranked them dead last. Contested possession is a watch for Geelong, though, as they rank 16th in the AFL for that differential.

IT'S A BIG WEEK FOR ...

Port Adelaide
Connor Rozee and Zak Butters are the club's captain and vice-captain respectively, but Jason Horne-Francis has emerged as the Power's No.1 gamebreaker in 2024. When there's a big moment to be won, the 21-year-old is nearly always part of it. He was magnificent against Melbourne in a must-win game at the MCG in round 22, and backed up with huge performances the next two weeks against Adelaide and Fremantle. His midfield teammates might average more possessions but none has the hurt factor of Horne-Francis, who is notching more than five clearances and two goals per game.

Geelong
These two teams look relatively evenly matched across the ground but Jeremy Cameron is a standout in the Cats' forward line who the Power don't have an easy, obvious match-up for. Jezza is in good shape, having booted 19 goals in the past four games, but remarkably he has only once kicked more than three goals in a final – way back in 2016 against Sydney. If Geelong is going to avenge Port's mid-season win at GMHBA Stadium, Cameron will need to get hold of a Power defence that Aliir Aliir, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and old teammate Esava Ratugolea.

PREDICTION

Two brilliant teams in exceptional form, with stars all over the field who generally match up on each other well – and it was a single-digit margin the last time they played. When the tale of the tape is as close as this, finals can be decided by moments, and Port Adelaide should have enough firepower in the middle and up forward to prevail when the game is there to be decided. Butters, Rozee and Horne-Francis will have the edge in midfield and that will be enough to send the Power into a home prelim. Port Adelaide by 12 points.

GEELONG is through to an incredible ninth preliminary final under coach Chris Scott after an ambush at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, with Port Adelaide now staring at the prospect of another straight sets exit after a brutal 84-point loss.

The Cats made a statement on the road in their first final since the 2022 premiership, overpowering Port in a dominant second half to win 20.18 (138) to 7.12 (54) and move one win away from their third Grand Final in five seasons.

POWER v CATS Full match coverage and stats

They left their more fancied opponents rattled in what was the Power's fourth straight finals loss and a nightmare result that included a run of 11 goals to one in the second half, with little response offered.

The Power will now need to take the long road through September and could enter a semi-final next week without star midfielder Zak Butters, who was substituted just after half-time after suffering a rib injury in a heavy knock during the first half.

Geelong was finely tuned after the pre-finals bye, taking away the Power's ball movement with an organised defence, and then ripping them apart at ground level in the front half as Tyson Stengle, Shaun Mannagh and Gryan Miers combined for 10 goals.

In the midfield, Max Holmes (28 disposals and five inside 50s) set up the Cats with a brilliant first half and champion Patrick Dangerfield (24 and eight) finish the Power off with a combative second half, overshadowing the Power's vaunted and deeper onball mix that was supposed to be a weapon.

Superstar forward Jeremy Cameron was the icing on top, kicking four masterful goals to sound a warning to the rest of this year's contenders that he will be a significant factor in the premiership race.

The Power led for only a moment early in the second quarter before conceding 16 goals to two in a devastating run that saw the final margin eclipse their 71-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in the 2021 preliminary final.

The decision to select forward/ruck Charlie Dixon did not pay off, with the veteran unable to impact the game and finishing goalless and with just three touches on a difficult night for the team's forwards.

At the other end of the ground, young Geelong forward Shannon Neale delivered with two goals to justify his selection ahead of Cats champion Tom Hawkins, who now faces a battle to regain his place in the team.

If Port's belief was at an all-time high coming in on Thursday night, then it took a hit quickly after some fumbles and dropped marks in the opening exchanges that signalled finals pressure had arrived.

Geelong seized on the nervous moments as Stengle scrambled the first goal and Cameron converted from the pocket, kicking one of the goals of the year as he ran towards the boundary on his left foot.

Jason Horne-Francis was not on the ground for more than six minutes after starting on the bench, and the Power midfield was taking a beating without him as Holmes quickly got off the leash and became the most damaging player on the ground.

The Power started to get the game on their terms later in the quarter and looked dangerous when their tall forwards were given on-on-one opportunities, with Mitch Georgiades beating Jack Henry for his first and Horne-Francis seeing off two opponents to cut the margin to three points at the first break.

Port enjoyed another run early in the second quarter with back-to-back goals to Willie Rioli and Jed McEntee to grab their first lead, but the Cats took control thereafter, chiefly through the midfield, which became a major scoring source for the team.

The performance was all the more impressive given they were without star defender Tom Stewart (illness), whose shift into the midfield had been crucial in the top-four charge.

The third quarter would have been painful to watch for the Port faithful as Geelong controlled possession, broke tackles, and then won everything that came its way inside 50 on the ground as Mannagh and Bowes did the damage.

The talls put the exclamation point on the victory as the Cats secured an MCG preliminary final in the best possible path through to a Grand Final.

Jezza's gems 
Geelong superstar Jeremy Cameron made some big additions to his highlights reel on Thursday night, kicking three masterful goals that took a whole lot of skill and a little bit of luck. The first was his best, running towards the boundary at the scoreboard end of Adelaide Oval and curling the ball in a way it shouldn't on his left foot four minutes into the game. His second was a dribbling effort on the eve of half-time that gave the Cats a 27-point lead, and his third came during a fourth-quarter flurry, hitting a forward 50 stoppage at pace, collecting the ball with one hand and then snapping on his non-preferred right foot. A fourth from a set shot finished his biggest final since kicking 4.4 as a Giant in 2016.  

New Cats get it done
The names change but the results stay the same at Geelong. This group of players that are now in a preliminary final includes September debutants Shaun Mannagh, Lawson Humphries, Jack Bowes, Ollie Dempsey, Shannon Neale, and late inclusion Oisin Mullin. Guided by experienced stars, the Cats have been able to filter new blood through their 23 and somehow emerge again as a serious premiership contender after a year out of finals. Mannagh was the pick of them, booting four goals and transferring his big game credentials as a VFL star to the AFL stage. There was a collective effort that came through in the Cats performance, however, with all of the new names delivering.

Port's midfield mastered 
The clearest weapon Port boasted coming in was its star-studded midfield, and the loss of half-back stars Dan Houston and Kane Farrell meant it was even more important for Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis to control the critical contests. The clearance numbers were 40-36 in the Cats' favour, but that flattered a Power group that couldn't contain Patrick Dangerfield and Max Holmes when the duo was rolling. Rozee (four clearances) had a quiet night and is not at his best, while Butters' injury meant he finished with just eight touches and two clearances. The heavy lifting was left to Ollie Wines and Willem Drew, who couldn't give the Power the same damaging looks they are used to out of the middle.  

PORT ADELAIDE    3.4   6.7     6.9       7.12 (54)
GEELONG               3.7   9.9   14.16   20.18 (138)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Burton, Burgoyne, Georgiades, Horne-Francis, McEntee, Rioli, Rozee
Geelong: Cameron 4, Stengle 4, Mannagh 3, Miers 3, Bowes 2, Neale 2, Bruhn, O.Henry

BEST
Port Adelaide: Bergman, Wines, Horne-Francis, Burton
Geelong: Dangerfield, Holmes, Stengle, Cameron, Mannagh, Miers, Bowes

INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Butters (ribs)
Geelong: Nil 

LATE CHANGES
Port Adelaide: Nil
Geelong: Tom Stewart (illness) replaced in the selected side by Oisin Mullin 

SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Quinton Narkle (replaced Zak Butters in the third quarter)
Geelong: Zach Tuohy (replaced Gryan Miers in the fourth quarter) 

Crowd: 50,342 at Adelaide Oval