Bartel, Selwood steer Cats home

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THIS year the list of doubters got so big even a favourite son declared this might be the year Geelong fades from relevance.

In the stands at Simonds Stadium on Thursday night premiership captain Cameron Ling confessed his concern over a ballooning injury list and said the Cats could finally miss the eight.

Two hours of breathtaking football later - after a Geelong side full of new faces was lead to an emphatic Round 1 win by several old ones - the naysayers had again been silenced.

In an unrelenting contest of the highest quality, the Cats slammed on the last six goals of the game to bury a dogged Adelaide, 18.11 (119) to 12.9 (81).

LIVE HQ: ALL THE SUPERCOACH POINTS AND STATS

With Steven Motlop, Allen Christensen and Nathan Vardy among the absentees, and Paul Chapman and James Podsiadly gone, this was supposed to be the moment Geelong's soft underbelly was finally exposed.

But the fountain of youth runs strong in these parts, and combined with a core of senior players among the cream of the competition, this is far from a group in decline.

First, the core.

Jimmy Bartel celebrated game 250 with four goals, 21 disposals and a ton of class. In another role for one of the AFL's most versatile and clever players, Bartel turned in a forward masterclass, kicking three goals in nine minutes. The pick of them was a groundball gather on the lead before he faked left, turned to his right, and snapped through a left foot dribbler.

ROUND 1 TEAMS

A chant of "Jimmy", "Jimmy" echoed around the stadium in the closing minutes.

Joel Selwood was supposed to be underdone. Instead, the skipper was immense, churning out a best on ground performance with that rare blend of toughness and skill. The skipper was everywhere, finishing with 34 touches - 20 contested - nine clearances and six tackles.

SAM EDMUND'S VOTES

3 Joel Selwood

2 Jimmy Bartel

1 James Kelly

James Kelly made the right decision every time, Steve Johnson and Mathew Stokes were prolific and Andrew Mackie gave drive.

Now, the youth.

Mitch Brown kicked the first goal of the game and presented well. While he then faded, his two crucial last quarter goals were proof this is a kid who never stopped contesting.

Cameron Guthrie deserves praise for keeping Patrick Dangerfield to 21 disposals and two goals. The Crows livewire didn't touch the pill for the first 15 minutes and while he showed flases of brilliance, wasn't allowed to catch fire.

CATS IN IT TO WIN IT

Lincoln McCarthy contributed. So too, Jordan Murdoch. The pair were bright offensively and had 10 tackles between them.

Then there's Hamish McIntosh and Dawson Simpson, whose tap work was excellent. McIntosh, playing his first game in nearly two years, drilled a first quarter goal on the run from 50m like he was an 18-year-old. For a first-up performance, 12 possessions and 19 hitouts will do.

Podsiadly had a night to forget against his old side, but Adelaide was excellent for three quarters given their own injury problems and Sam Jacobs looks to have put a poor 2013 behind him.

Dangerfield had put Adelaide in front five minutes into the last quarter before they were blown off the field in the next 20 minutes.

It was a Cats surge that brought that warm feeling of deja vu to the Simonds Stadium outer. That's 44 wins from 45 home and away matches played on home soil since the start of 2008.

Geelong won the contested ball, tackle count, clearances and had 15 more inside 50s.

Perhaps now it's time the football world accepted that this is a club immune to rebuilding. At the very least, it appears immune to bottoming out.

MATCH IN A MINUTE BY MARK HAYES:

First Quarter

INCREDIBLE to think that quarter was the first in anger for both clubs, who went at breakneck speed up and down the ground with impressive skills you'd expect later in the season.

Geelong opened up what looked a threatening 21-point lead with all the big men – including Cats first-gamer Hamish McIntosh – taking advantage of strangely central space inside the 50m arc.

But with Sam Kerridge prolific and Eddie Betts looking dangerous, the Crows clawed back within three points in a frenetic 11-goal opening term.

Second Quarter

Welcome to the Jimmy Bartel show. He might be celebrating his 250th game, but the Brownlow medallist is running around like a spritely youngster, torching Adelaide with his forward magic.

Bartel boots three goals – one a mile in the clear after using his nous, one after a rock-solid pack mark and one a dribbling, angled left-foot snap – to show all his tricks.

Geelong scooted clear again early on Bartel's heroics, but the Crows hit back again late to again trail by just 10 at the long break with lesser lights Jaensch, Kerridge and Wright all prominent and Lewis Johnston a target, despite the big forward being booked for rough conduct against Steve Johnson.

Third Quarter

The game was far from slow, but the frenetic nature of the first half waned a little as the backlines finally held sway with just three goals for the term compared to 20 in the first two.

Matthew Jaensch continued his impressive match with another six touches and a long bomb to move the Crows to within five points at the final change.

Ominously for Geelong, the lack of pace in their transitional play proved a blanket on Bartel, whose impact was limited for the first time.

Fourth Quarter

Adelaide looked set for a major boilover when it fronted the Cats early in the last term.

But someone forgot to tell the Cats, themselves.

Joel Selwood lit up, Mitch Brown kicked a pair including the sealer and Bartel booted his career-best fourth major as Geelong ran out a 38-point winner after booting the closing six goals.

Adelaide simply ran out of puff and couldn't match the Cats through the midfield as the heat went on.

LATE CHANGES:

Geelong: Dawson Simpson in, replacing George Horlin-Smith

Adelaide: Nil

SUBSTITUTES:

Geelong: Mark Blicavs

Adelaide: Jarryd Lyons

Relive the match in the chat below and head to LIVE HQ for live SuperCoach scores.

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