Viv's debut in his third season

With Lee Spurr unwell, Viv Michie was given an unexpected debut on Saturday night. It was the culmination of two full years on the sidelines with a foot injury for the young Victorian. He’s been able to stay on the park this season and has been excellent at WAFL level. He started as the sub but an injury to Paul Duffield saw Michie come on midway through the second term. He made an instant impact with a holding the ball free that Brian ‘BT’ Taylor loved in the commentary box. His adoring family in the rooms embraced Michie after the game.

Toughest gig in football

The Cats have now won 44 of their past 46 games at Simonds Stadium. It again proved to be a graveyard for opposition sides on Saturday night, but keep in mind that finals will not be played at the Cattery.

A heads up would be nice

Stand-in captain Luke McPharlin hasn’t had the best of runs with coin tosses. On Saturday night, he called heads when the coin wasthrown up. The only problem was that the options were not heads or tails, but rather Geelong or AFL. A heads up would have been nice.

Only four-quarter performer

Ross Lyon credited Ryan Crowley for holding Geelong captain and superstar Joel Selwood to just 13 disposals while winning 15 himself. The senior coach rated Crowley Fremantle’s only four-quarter performer on the night.

Margin flatters us

Lyon said it post game, the 41-point margin was flattering to Freo. The Cats enjoyed a statistical domination from the very first bounce and were only held back from an even bigger victory by a very inaccurate 11.19 return on the scoreboard. Here are the key performance indicators that told the Cats’ tale:

Disposals: Geelong 418-316
Centre Clearances: Geelong 12-7
Inside 50: Geelong 59-32
Marks inside 50: Geelong 13-4
Contested Possessions: Geelong 185-123

Dawson's high contact on Stokes

Zac Dawson is free to play against St Kilda on Sunday after he received a reprimand for this hit on Geelong’s Mathew Stokes in the first quarter.