The contender was Collingwood, cast as David taking on Goliath. The Magpies have been a solid team over the past few years and have been the in-form club during the past few rounds. This top of the table clash was seen as a pivotal point in the 2010 AFL season. And the game delivered. It was a titanic struggle with solid defence keeping the scores low.
The match had to wait until the third quarter before a 15min goal stalemate was broken by Geelong. In a finishing burst Geelong pumped home five goals to demoralize the Magpies, win the game and take the top position on the ladder (86 points to 50 points). Goliath had triumphed over David, and the psychological damage done will linger for Collingwood's future finals clash.
Collingwood Coach, Mick Malthouse, has work to do to recover his players' confidence for the next time these two great teams meet. "We certainly had control of the ball and the period of play at which really you just have to put the score on the board," a disappointed Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said. Geelong coach
Mark Thompson played down the significance of the win, but was pleased how his side responded. "I thought it was a good contest. I like competing in games like that, not that you want to do it every week but it was a really physical game and there was a lot of pressure out there and it was close for a lot of the evening. It was certainly good to win." The Cats will ride the wave of confidence as the team to beat in 2010.
Next week the Cats host Melbourne at Geelong's home, Skilled Stadium. The result seems beyond doubt and the Geelong fans have a lot to look forward to as their team rolls on towards the finals. Collingwood travels to Brisbane next week to take on the Lions. This will be a tough clash away from home and against a volatile Brisbane line-up. The Collingwood faithful will be nervous to see how their players recover and represent their club at the Gabba.
The David and Goliath clash in this AFL round reminds us of the original battle of two champions and the fans they represent. In the original Biblical battle, Goliath explained that they were both representatives of their nations. If Goliath won, then his team won the spoils. If David won, then his fans would celebrate. Just like our teams on the sporting field, they represent us. If they win, we win. If they lose, we share the pain.
In the Bible's Book of Romans, Chapter 5, it summarises what this all means; we must choose a captain to represent us. Either the first man, Adam, who messed things up because of his sin, or the second man, Jesus, who came to make things right. When Jesus won the victory over sin and death, then all on His team share in His victory. When we ask Jesus to be our team captain, then His life, death and victorious resurrection are shared with us. What a captain!