It was a contest worthy of two premiership contenders and not for the first time this year, Geelong were up for the challenge as they staved off a strong Sydney outfit to clinch a 27-point victory at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 

After an even start to the match, the Cats took full control with a brilliant period through the middle of the game, fending off a 15-minute burst from the Swans at the end of the third quarter before sealing the result with a strong finish to record their fourth consecutive win. 

When the heat was on, there was no player more calm and composed than Lawson Humphries, the young star influential across a brilliant four-quarter performance and finishing with 33 disposals, nine intercept possessions and a goal. 

Once again, the duo of Max Holmes (35 disposals, eight clearances) and Bailey Smith (32 disposals, seven clearances) found the footy with ease and broke the contest open with their running capacity, Smith in particular turning the game on its head with 18 disposals and a goal in the third quarter alone. 

Sharing the ruck duties for most of the afternoon, Mitch Edwards (12 disposals, 22 hit-outs) and Sam De Koning (16 disposals, nine score involvements) were both outstanding and helped to give the Cats first-use through the middle of the ground, while also nullifying the impact of Brodie Grundy for a large portion of the game. 

For the second consecutive week, Jack Henry started deep inside Geelong's forward 50 and immediately made an impact, taking a strong contested mark and feeding Jeremy Cameron for the Cats' first goal of the afternoon. 

Not wanting to be outdone in the family battle, Ollie Henry struck early with two goals of his own but the Cats also had no answer for Joel Amartey, the Swans key forward kicking three of his own and putting the visitors four points ahead at quarter time. 

Max Holmes made a bright start with 11 disposals and four clearances in the first term, while Lawson Humphries was instrumental with nine possessions and three score involvements of his own. 

The Cats generated plenty of chances to start the second quarter but the radar seemed to be slightly off, until Humphries slid home a pearler from long range to continue his hot start and get the ball rolling. 

Cameron followed suit shortly after, Brad Close crafted a brilliant finish and Tom Atkins curled home his first major of the season, all of a sudden Geelong had all the momentum and a handy buffer midway through the second term. 

Mannagh put through another and the Cats dominance started to show, recording 18 scoring shots to eight in the first half and registering 19 more inside 50 entries (39-20), taking a healthy 20-point lead into half time. 

Wearing the guernsey he designed with his sister, Humphries was electric collecting 15 disposals, five intercepts and four score involvements in the first half alone, while Cameron's work rate was also immense as he continually rolled back to help out defensively, finishing the half with 13 disposals, two goals and 352 metres gained. 

Jack Martin kickstarted the second half with a beautiful left foot snap, before Connor O'Sullivan produced one of the highlights of the season as he snuck inside forward 50 and pounced on the loose footy, punching through the first goal of his AFL career in his 37th game.  

Another scintillating passage of play led to a Jack Henry goal and a game-high 38-point lead, the Cats seemingly in full control and starting to extend the gap. 

But Sydney were on top of the ladder for a reason and they showed why with a monumental momentum shift, kicking five of the last six goals in the third term and cutting the margin back to just 14 points at the final break. 

Geelong needed a response in the fourth quarter to stem the bleeding and they went to their trump card, Jeremy Cameron and the reigning Coleman Medallist did not let his side down, nailing an outstanding set-shot from long range for his third goal of the night. 

Not wanting to miss out on the action, the skipper then chimed in with an equally impressive set-shot from the opposite pocket, helping the Cats to re-establish their buffer. 

Another goal to Brad Close as the icing on the cake, as Geelong closed out a strong 27-point victory to solidify their spot in the top four, taking their record to 8-3 with Carlton awaiting at the MCG next Friday night. 

2026 AFL Season - Round 11

GEELONG    3.4   8.10  12.13  15.17  (107)  
SYDNEY      4.2    6.2    11.5    12.8   (80) 

GOALS
Geelong: Cameron 3, O.Henry, Close 2, Smith, O'Sullivan, Martin, Mannagh, Humphries, J.Henry, Dangerfield, Atkins 1
Sydney: Amartey 4, McDonald, Curnow 2, McInerney, Heeney, Hanily, Cleary 1

BEST
Geelong: Humphries, Smith, Edwards, Cameron, Holmes
Sydney: Amarty, Bice, Serong, Heeney, Mills

LATE CHANGES
Geelong: Tanner Bruhn (managed) replaced by Jake Kolodjashnij
Sydney: Nil

CROWD: 35,869 @ GMHBA Stadium