Geelong Cat Mark Blicavs says team won’t be giving away silly free kicks to Brisbane Lions in AFL Grand Final

Geelong are confident they have learnt their lesson from getting too emotional during the qualifying final and won’t fall into the trap of giving away free kicks if the grand final against Brisbane gets heated.

The Cats were in control of the qualifying final and had the chance to extend their lead to 33 points during the second quarter when Mark O’Connor was incorrectly penalised for knocking Cam Rayner to the ground at the other end of the field. Geelong were stunned and remonstrated with Rayner after he kicked the goal, which saw the umpire pay another free kick and the Lions then reduced the deficit to just 15 points.

Emotion will be high during the grand final as both teams desperately chase another premiership. Blicavs said they wouldn’t allow a repeat of the qualifying final mistakes.

“It was a good reminder. We spoke about it. We are going to make sure that we just stick together and do what we can do and don’t give anyone the opportunity to dictate the game for us,” Blicavs said.

Geelong have been disciplined all year and have clearly received more free kicks than they have given away.

The Cats are an experienced group that are accustomed to playing in September and more than half of the team were part of the 2022 premiership.

Blicavs said having so much finals experience meant they could quickly adjust when pressure increases in games. He said the squad constantly discussed the importance of remaining composed and not allowing the crowd or opposition to change the way they are thinking.

“That’s something we speak about all season over many seasons. We don’t need emotion to get our game going so we’re just going to stay calm and composed,” he said.

“Obviously the crowd is going to be amazing. It’ll be for us and against us and hostile. There will be heat of the moment pressure on the ground but stay together, stay calm as much as you can and if we can minimise the time where we let emotion get involved, it just helps our system and our game. We’re prepared for it. We’re ready. It’s exciting.”