Dangerfield stars as Cats thrash Dockers

The ‘Dangerwood’ aura lives on, but Geelong had plenty of other things to smile about in their spiteful 42-point thumping of Fremantle in Sunday’s AFL clash at Domain Stadium.

Patrick Dangerfield (24 disposals, nine tackles, three goals) and Joel Selwood (28 touches) picked up where they left off last season, helping power Geelong to the 18.7 (115) to 10.13 (73) win.

But Mitch Duncan (30 disposals, one goal) was also prolific in the rout, while up forward Tom Hawkins (three goals) gave Geelong a strong target, and Lincoln McCarthy also bagged three goals.

New Dockers skipper Nat Fyfe (28 disposals, one goal) and ruckman Aaron Sandilands (48 hit-outs) tried their best to lift Fremantle, but poor turnovers hurt the home side time and again.

Worryingly, Fremantle’s new forward line combination failed to fire.

Former GWS forward Cameron McCarthy finished with 1.5, while ex-Cat Shane Kersten was goalless from just seven disposals.

The much-hyped match-up between Fyfe and Dangerfield started off as a fizzer.

The two Brownlow medallists hardly crossed paths in the opening term, tallying just 11 possessions between them.

Dangerfield had only four possessions for the term, but he took a big grab up forward and duly converted to help give his side a 17-point lead at quarter time.

The Cats blew the game wide open in the second term as their lead stretched to 39 points.

A series of horror mistakes in defence cost the Dockers dearly.

Veteran defender Michael Johnson’s kick-in didn’t clear the man on the mark, with Hawkins guzzling up the goal.

And Cameron Sutcliffe’s turnover in defence gifted Daniel Menzel a goal.

The frustrations was clearly starting to bubble among Fremantle players, and Michael Walters eventually snapped when he came to the aid of his skipper Nat Fyfe.

Walters wrestled Tom Ruggles into the fence, even leaning the Geelong defender partially into the crowd as other players wrestled around them.

Tensions boiled over again straight after former Blue Zach Tuohy kicked a goal on the half-time siren.

Geelong maintained their dominance in the second half, with only some dead-time goals to Fremantle avoiding a total blowout.

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