SYDNEY gave the unflappable, seemingly unstoppable Geelong a fright yesterday, and early in the last quarter was within three points of taking a potentially unsettling lead. For its cheek, it was sat on its backside like a lippy child.

That the Cats will take some beating as their premiership defence unfolds is news to no one, and the Swans' brand of invention married to conservation served them well for 3½ quarters of an absorbing contest. Even without Barry Hall and late withdrawal Tadhg Kennelly, talk of an upset came in more than whispers.

And for a time in the third quarter — as the free kicks went 7-1 against the locals, and 11 forward thrusts brought only five behinds — the home crowd kicked out, hissing at opponents and umpires alike, cursing the effrontery of those who would challenge the Cats' greatness.

But there are so many magical parts to the Geelong machine, and when arguably the most bewitching, Gary Ablett, pointed his wand towards the city end goal, the Swans' charge was held back as if by force-field.

The Cats kicked five goals in the game's last 11 minutes, Ablett three in the last quarter to put the icing on a sweet, 35-possession performance that sent Kieren Jack back to school after the young Swan's blanketing of Daniel Kerr in Sydney last weekend.

Geelong had been roundly beaten at the stoppages all day, but a 28-16 clearance deficit at the last change ended at 33 apiece as Jimmy Bartel, Joel Selwood and Joel Corey joined Ablett in turning around an advantage hitherto enjoyed by Brett Kirk, Jarrad McVeigh, Jude Bolton and their mobile provider Darren Jolly.

Ablett had nine clearances alone, his bald head a burrowing, baulking, bewildering force among an ever-present mass of bodies. He was clearly the game's standout player.

Yet it was the day's next-highest dead-ball winner, Adam Goodes with six, who had an afternoon that, with the gods in a different mood or the moon another quadrant, could have similarly influenced the result for his team.

It can't be pleasant for any of the game's playmakers to look up and see Cameron Ling's beady eyes drilling into them from under his dirty red mane. Yesterday, the experience was positively frightening for Goodes. To begin with, the dual Brownlow medallist couldn't get his hands on the ball, Ling outgunning him by eight possessions to one in the first quarter. When eventually he found it, he also found no end of ways to misuse it.

His first two kicks were very gettable shots at goal that missed, and another followed before half-time. When he won an off-ball free, his 15-metre kick couldn't find Jude Bolton. Leading to an empty half of the ground, Leo Barry kicked for him and put it out of bounds.

And when finally he broke from a stoppage, pinning his ears back and hitting the accelerator, the three-quarter-time siren stopped him in his tracks. If his own frustration was palpable, it was nothing on that of Paul Roos, who bemoaned the lengths his coaching staff went to in trying to bring Goodes into the game, and concluded thus: "You can't spend all your energy on one player."

Even in the last quarter, McVeigh hit Goodes lace-out, and he dropped it. And even when it bounced straight up into his lap, and the seas parted before him, the teasing second chance was shanked wide for his fourth behind.

Sydney's day started this way, too, with Ryan O'Keefe and Nick Davis taking Goodes' lead in fluffing early chances to support their midfield ascendancy.

The Cats, meanwhile, had Steve Johnson at his mercurial best, poking home a left-foot volley as if beating a goalkeeper from the top of the penalty box. And out of defence, they had David Wojcinski, whose acceleration when presented with someone to beat was blistering — even more so with two to beat, as he demonstrated in splitting McVeigh and Craig Bird in the second term as if they were an oak and he an axe.

Sydney's riposte came from Barry, who figured the best way to counter the heavy traffic before him was to hit the accelerator and keep going until he ran into something. In patches, it changed the game's choking rhythm sufficiently to bring results, Ed Barlow goaling twice before half-time and O'Keefe escaping Andrew Mackie's attention to balance the contest. The third term was the classic Swans-inspired stalemate, and when Paul Bevan sneaked forward to receive from O'Keefe, the margin was only five points. But a Bartel free for being clattered into off the ball gave Geelong some respite.

Two Jarred Moore goals and one from Luke Ablett left fewer than two kicks in it 18 minutes into the last. But it was the more wizardly of the Ablett clan, with the help of his willing and talented assistant Mathew Stokes, who cast the day's final spell.

GEELONG 6.2 7.8 8.13 16.18 (114) SYDNEY 1.2 6.7 7.9 10.12 (72)

GOALS: Geelong: S Johnson 4, Stokes 4, G Ablett 3, Bartel 2, Hunt, Mooney, Wojcinski. Sydney: Barlow 2, Moore 2, L Ablett, Bevan, J Bolton, Davis, Jolly, O'Keefe.

BEST: Geelong: G Ablett, Bartel, Stokes, Ling, S Johnson, Scarlett. Sydney: Jolly, Kirk, McVeigh, Barry, Richards.

INJURIES: Sydney: Kennelly (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Brennan.

UMPIRES: McBurney, Rosebury, Ellis.

CROWD: 24,368 at Skilled Stadium.

THE UPSHOT

THOSE who insist Geelong is beatable must still be asked to produce the evidence to back it up. Sydney was game, as ever, but the Cats were untouchable when it counted.

TALKING POINT

GARY Ablett's game, which Swans coach Paul Roos called "phenomenal". Beaten last year when Brownlow Medal favourite (by the bloke who was probably second-best afield yesterday), he won't need many more performances like this to be wound in again.

HOT AND COLD

WHILE Ablett was so hot he left scorch marks, Sydney's chief playmaker Adam Goodes continued to struggle, lowering his colours to Cameron Ling and mostly making a meal of it even when he did win the ball.