Geelong have earnt a slice of history by winning the first AFLX game.
The Cats defeated Port Adelaide 72-60 on Thursday night in Adelaide as the experimental format made its debut.
Geelong triumphed before a curious crowd building towards 10,000 spectators at Coopers Stadium – the home of A-League club Adelaide United.
On a rectangular field, 105 metres long, Geelong’s Zac Guthrie kicked the first goal in the short format.
With both teams allowed seven players on-field, the match was a bruise-free encounter with few contested possessions.
Instead, players valued finding space and aimed to kick goals from outside the 40m attacking arc. With these worth 10 points, Geelong booted three of them and Port five.
Goals from inside the arc are the traditional six points with one behind for shots between the goal and point posts.
Geelong finished with 3.6.6 (72) to Port’s 5.1.4 (60) in the first of seven AFLX games to be played on Thursday night between six clubs.
Teams have been split into pools with clubs playing two games before the leaders of each pool meet in a grand final.
Another six clubs will contest the same AFLX schedule on Friday night in Melbourne, with the remaining six playing AFLX on Saturday night in Sydney.