There were few sights better or more memorable than the flowing red locks of Cameron Ling dashing across Kardinia Park - and Cats fans certainly got to see it regularly in this epic tussle with Port Adelaide in 2003. 

When the Power visited Kardinia Park in Round 14 they were perched on top of the ladder, coming off their first ever Minor Premiership in 2002 with a team full of talented players like the Burgoyne brothers, Gavin Wanganeen and Warren Tredrea. 

Geelong were in a transition period with a number of fresh faces in the side, the likes of Matthew Scarlett, Cameron Ling, Joel Corey and Corey Enright all between the ages of 20 and 25, with others like Steve Johnson, Gary Ablett Junior and Jimmy Bartel still in the backend of their teenage years. 

On paper the two sides were not evenly matched but as Cameron Ling remembers, it was a Cats team that was just starting to find their groove. 

"The memories are starting to fade a little bit," Ling said as he sat down with Cats Media. 

"I remember us being a pretty young team, I reckon it was the years where myself but also Corey Enright, Joel Corey, James Kelly, Stevie J, Chappy, all those boys were learning our craft.

"Given we had a few seasons under our belt by that point, we were starting to get it but we were still probably pretty inconsistent at that stage."

Ling made his AFL debut against Port Adelaide in 2000 in a match that ended with a draw, but the Cats had not beaten the Power in close to four years when they visited GMHBA Stadium in 2003. 

The Cats premiership captain recalled that the Power were a strong team on the cusp of achieving success, with some big names who often caused headaches for Geelong. 

"I do remember the rivalry because obviously they were a really good team," Ling said. 

"From memory they finished on top of the ladder and won minor premierships in a couple of those years, around that mark in 2002 and 2003. They didn't ultimately win the flag until 2004, but they were a really good team.

"Lead by Matty Primus who was a great ruckman and a great leader, but their midfield which was my particular focus was super deep. I remember Josh Francou, I remember Nick Stevens who I reckon I played on in that game, but then there was Shaun and Peter Burgoyne as well, Josh Carr was in there who was always stirring up a little bit of trouble.

"They were a really good quality, deep midfield but had a hard edge to them as well."

Ling was building a brilliant campaign in his fourth season at Geelong, but his task that day was to limit the impact of Port Adelaide midfielder, Nick Stevens. 

Keeping Stevens to 21 disposals and no clearances, Ling got off the leash himself and finished with 34 disposals and a goal, eventually receiving the three Brownlow votes in a best on ground performance. 

"I was growing in my midfield role, I had been doing it for a couple of years at that stage playing that run with type role," Ling reminisced. 

"The great thing about 'Bomber' Thompson as a coach, he never wanted me to be a total negative tagger. It was always limit your opposition, beat him, make sure he can't impact the game, but get off at the right time and find the footy.

"I was playing on Nick Stevens who was an outstanding midfielder, a really high quality user and would get heaps of the footy. I had set myself to limit him, to stop that outside ball, don't let him get the really dangerous ball where he is hitting up his forwards.

"So I thought if I could take that away from him it would help, but I also knew with Nick that there was opportunities to push him the other way and try to use a little bit of his petrol chasing me."

The game itself turned into an absolute beauty, Cats fans cramming into Kardinia Park to see their young side take up the challenge to a highly fancied Port Adelaide team. 

The Power kicked the opening three goals of the game but the Cats quickly hit back, slamming through five unanswered goals to snatch the lead back, making their presence felt as they carried a 17 point buffer into half time. 

Geelong held firm through the third term and remained 14 points ahead at three quarter time, but Port Adelaide mounted a charge in the final quarter and hit the front with just three minutes left in the match. 

But this would be one game the Cats were not going to let slip. 

With under a minute remaining, Ben Graham took a strong mark at half forward and chipped the ball out in front of Matthew Scarlett who for some reason, was all alone in a paddock of space heading into an open goal. 

The ball pitched at the top of the goal square, tumbled end over end and rolled through the big sticks, Graham putting the Cats in front and ultimately nailing the game-winner with less than a minute on the clock. 

Ling's favourite memory of that moment?

An iconic Matthew Scarlett celebration inspired by a WWE icon. 

"You know what is weird about memory?" Ling asked. 

"If you asked me without prompting me there what that last play that unfolded was, Matty Scarlett had run from full back off, at a guess Warren Tredrea, my memory for whatever reason had Matty Scarlett picking the ball up and kicking the goal from the goal line. But he actually guided it through, so it was a Ben Graham kick.

"Then Scarlett gave that celebration which was ridiculous, I had no clue what he was doing at the time and it turns out it was a WWE wrestling thing, which he was into massively at the time.

"'Scarlo' did the horns and I just remember laughing thinking, what the hell was that celebration? But I was pumped that we had taken the lead and we held on to win it."

2003 Round 14 – Geelong v Port Adelaide @ GMHBA Stadium

GEELONG CATS       3.4     6.7     8.8     10.10    (70)
PORT ADELAIDE      3.1     4.2     6.6      10.9     (69)

GOALS: Chapman, Graham 3, Corey, Johnson, Ling, Riccardi 1

DISPOSALS: Ling 34, Enright 28, Harley 23, Spriggs 20, Sanderson 18, Rahilly 17

BROWNLOW VOTES: Cameron Ling (3), Matthew Scarlett (2), Nick Stevens (1)

CROWD: 19,770 @ GMHBA Stadium

GEELONG STARTING 22
1. Steven King
2. Tom Harley
3. Jimmy Bartel
6. David Spriggs
7. Ben Graham
11. Joel Corey
15. Peter Riccardi
18. Kent Kingsley
20. Steve Johnson
24. Aaron Lord
26. Matthew McCarthy
27. Brenton Sanderson
29. Gary Ablett Junior
30. Matthew Scarlett
32. Brent Moloney
34. James Rahilly
35. Paul Chapman
36. Peter Street
39. Darren Milburn
40. David Wojcinski
44. Corey Enright
45. Cameron Ling