Monday mornings are usually the most dreaded part of the week, but waking up on this morning in particular, it just felt different.
The weather is slowly but surely starting to warm up. The days are getting that little bit longer. The air is filled with the smell of freshly cut grass, and there is a sense of optimism around town.
The calendar has flipped the page and spring is upon us, which can only mean one thing.
September has arrived.
It is the month that excites every AFL fan. Each game carries added importance, with only nine matches standing between one team and football’s Holy Grail.
All 18 teams battled it out through 24 rounds of a gruelling home and away season, each club with their eyes on the main prize that now stands just four weeks away.
The competition's best sides prepare to go toe-to-toe with the eyes of the nation upon them, blockbuster crowds set to pack into the country's best stadiums to get a glimpse of their heroes in action.
Eight teams remain and over the next three weeks, two will earn the privilege of featuring on the biggest stage of them all — with all roads leading to one of sport’s greatest colosseums: the MCG on the last Saturday in September.
This time of year is certainly not unfamiliar for the men in the blue and white Hoops, a club that has made a habit of putting themselves in the premiership discussions over the past two decades.
With a second place finish at the end of the home and away season, Geelong earned the rights to host a Qualifying Final for the 11th time in the past 19 seasons. It marked a 15th top four finish and a 17th Finals appearance across that same span, an extraordinary feat in such a fiercely competitive league.
At the helm once again is a man that knows what this time of year is all about, with Chris Scott setting his sights on another premiership tilt to extend an already incredible resume at the top level.
Across eight Finals campaigns as a player, Scott featured in two premierships with Brisbane (2001, 2002) and knew exactly what it took to triumph on that last Saturday in September. He would elevate that legacy as a coach, leading Geelong to 12 Finals series in his first 14 years in the top job, adding another two premierships (2011, 2022) along the way.
And what about the team itself?
There are plenty of new faces with the hunger to guide the team to the pinnacle of football, but there is also an abundance of experienced players that have stood tall on the biggest stage previously.
Within Geelong's 44-player squad, there are 16 premiership players and 28 individuals who have featured in a Finals match.
Coleman Medallist Jeremy Cameron is at the peak of his powers after another incredible season. Bailey Smith earned a maiden All Australian blazer after a sensational debut season in the Hoops. Tom Atkins is built for September after breaking the all-time tackling record in a season. Patrick Dangerfield's well-publicised move to the forward line has been a raging success and has the champion fit and firing.
Geelong's defence led by the likes of Jack Henry, Tom Stewart and Zach Guthrie have hit an ominous vein of form at the right time of year. Young guns like Shannon Neale, Ollie Dempsey and Lawson Humphries are ready to make their mark after getting a taste of September action for the first time last year.
There is so much to like about this 2025 Geelong outfit, poised to attack another Finals campaign and hoping to etch their names into the history books.
And it will all begin this Friday night when the Cats venture up the highway, ready to face the reigning premiers under the bright lights at the MCG, a stage where champions are made and dreams become reality.
