HUGE MOMENT: Emotional scenes as Geelong captain fights back tears after management show of love to him and his family

On Sunday, Geelong captain Meghan McDonald honoured her late father with an 18-point win over Essendon in the AFLW finals.

The cub confirmed that McDonald’s father ‘passed away suddenly and sadly this past week,’ but did not reveal the cause of death.

The Cats wore black armbands in honor of the McDonald family, and she sobbed after the final siren.

The Cats scored three goals in the first seven minutes to end Sunday’s home elimination final and won easily, 7.9 (51) to 5.3 (33).

Chloe Scheer, the Cats’ leading goalkicker, was forced out of the game in the first term with a shoulder injury after setting up Geelong’s first goal and kicking their third.
Cats coach Dan Lowther is skeptical about Scheer’s availability for next weekend’s semi-final against Melbourne at Ikon Park.

‘It doesn’t look good for her… she’s very skeptical,’ he said.

Essendon’s AFL team reached the dismal milestone of 7000 days without an AFL finals win earlier this month, much to the delight of rival clubs.

The Bombers women have also had a difficult finals debut in their second season.

Essendon held Geelong scoreless and scored three goals in the final quarter to avoid a crushing defeat, but the damage had already been done.

Given Scheer’s absence, the Cats had to manage their players, according to Lowther, and it showed in the fourth quarter.

Our wheels came off in the fourth quarter, which was a little chaotic, but the first half was enough,’ he said.

The tone was set in the first minute when young Cats midfielder Georgie Prespakis won the ball in the middle and passed to Scheer.

Scheer’s pinpoint kick then found Aishling Moloney, who scored the first of her two goals.
Moloney stepped up after Scheer left the game, and the Irish import played an important role.

Essendon trailed by one point in the first term and trailed by 31 points in uncontested possessions as the Cats ran riot.

Amber Clarke, a bomber, was stretchered off after being crunched in a marking contest, but she returned in the second half.

Essendon started the second quarter better, trailing by 21 points at the break, and a 50m penalty set up Sophie Alexander for their first goal after four minutes.

The Cats, however, quickly dispatched the challenge and led by six goals at halftime.

Geelong’s Prespakis, Amy McDonald, Rebecca Webster, and Nina Morrison were outstanding, while Essendon’s Georgia Nanscawen was a lonely shining light on another dirty finals day.

Georgie’s older sister, Maddy Prespakis, scored twice for the Bombers, who were no match for the Cats’ early onslaught.

‘We knew they’d be difficult to stop. ‘We knew we needed to make it a bit of a contest to try to stop their work on the outside,’ Essendon coach Natalie Wood explained.