OUTSIDE the main entrance to Skilled Stadium, the Geelong West Brass Band was sitting in a semi-circle earnestly playing the Cats' eccentric club song.

I was in the queue for those with bags. The man behind me said to the security guard: "What do you want? The banana or the three apples?"

In Geelong, you can still joke about security.

The mood inside the ground when the match began was languid. The Brisbane Lions were playing in guernseys that paid tribute to Fitzroy and it was remarkable how much, in the absence of their two biggest names, Jonathan Brown and Simon Black, they played the old Fitzroy way — light, fast and plucky.

One of the more memorable moments of the first quarter came at a centre bounce when giant Geelong ruckman Mark Blake was caught like a praying mantis in molasses as he was set upon by a fleet of smaller Brisbane players as the ball left and then returned to him. At centre half-back, Brisbane's Joel Patfull punched above his weight by taking on Cameron Mooney, signalling his intentions and his team's by running forward to kick the first goal of the game.

Geelong's early forward movements were what the crowd expected — polished and precise. Mathew Stokes, who had an eventful afternoon, set up the Cats' first goal that was duly executed by a running Joel Corey. Shortly afterwards, Tom Hawkins shrugged off Daniel Merrett like an infant Hercules and set up a goal for Ryan Gamble. Briefly, it all looked easy for the home side. Nonetheless, Brisbane kept attacking, the common factor in many of its moves being the slow, loping run and casual left foot of Jared Brennan.

What made the Lions' endeavours more remarkable was that, in the absence of Brown, their other key forward, Daniel Bradshaw, who has kicked big tallies in recent weeks, was comprehensively contained by Geelong full-back Matthew Scarlett. What was also notable was that — faced with Brisbane's keen intent and remorseless endeavour — the mighty Geelong began to falter, employing sequences of handballs that either went nowhere or put teammates in worse positions. The one Geelong player to repeatedly alter the structure of the game was David Wojcinski, but his wonderful sliding runs through the centre of the ground ended in points not goals.

Late in the second quarter, lifted by Stokes' second goal for the term, Geelong mounted a tearing onslaught. In the 24th minute, Mooney, one of many major Geelong players to have featured only marginally in the match, put the Cats ahead so that at half-time they led by four points.

At the start of the third term, it seemed that the match was finally set up for the Cats to motor smoothly away. Instead, what happened was that Luke Power slipped free of Cameron Ling's potent grip and kicked two goals. For a period it seemed that a combination of the Cats' inability to produce their best and Brisbane's grit and relentless effort might produce an upset. Geelong rallied and got two goals up but within minutes of the start of the final term Brisbane was back in the contest.

But when the game was there to be won, Geelong won it. Mooney made some big plays, thundering out from full-forward, taking marks and distributing the ball in emphatic manner. Steve Johnson kicked a tricky goal, Paul Chapman converted a powerful one.

By the end, the Cats' heavy machinery was working but it wasn't an inspiring win of the sort they produced in their charmed run to a flag last year. As for the other team in the red, blue and yellow jumpers — the Lions were gallant and inventive but it wasn't quite enough. Just like Fitzroy.