Reports of Geelong's demise have been greatly exaggerated with the Cats opening their 2022 AFL campaign by obliterating a disappointing Essendon.
Veteran Cats stars Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Hawkins blew the hyped Bombers off the MCG in blistering fashion on Saturday to win by 66 points.
Dangerfield ran riot with 22 disposals and nine inside-50s before halftime, while Hawkins caused all sorts of problems for the Bombers' defence on his way to kicking four goals and setting up numerous others.
After being written off as too old and too slow ahead of this season, the Cats smashed Essendon in the midfield on their way to a 20.18 (138) to 11.6 (72) victory.
The shell-shocked Bombers conceded seven first-quarter goals and trailed by 60 points at half-time.
Essendon fought harder in the second-half but the damage was already done with a meek early effort against their hardened opponents.
It was a brutal reality check for a team supposedly on the rise after surprisingly surging into an elimination final last year.
Geelong could barely have been more impressive following an off-season of upheaval after their embarrassing preliminary final exit to Melbourne last year.
Crucial to the Cats' resurgence was an extraordinary game from Tyson Stengle in his first game for his third club.
Sacked by Adelaide for a string of off-field indiscretions last year, Stengle booted four goals in an electric performance first-up for Geelong.
Now under the tutelage of legendary AFL small forward Eddie Betts, the 23-year-old Stengle is set to be an important member of the ageing Geelong team.
The Cats' perfect outing was ruined by star forward Jeremy Cameron being subbed out of the match, with the club saying he hurt his hip.
But Cameron was taken to hospital midway through the final quarter, indicating a possible broken rib.
Cameron, who kicked two early goals, collided with Bombers defender Jayden Laverde during the first quarter and both players pulled up sore.
Laverde was able to come back on the ground, but Bombers teammate Kyle Langford's day ended early after suffering a hamstring injury.
On a dirty day for the Bombers, ruckman Sam Draper faces a nervous wait to learn if he is cited by the match review officer after appearing to strike Geelong big man Esava Ratugolea.
But the undoubted shining light for Essendon was the debut of Nic Martin, who was comfortably the Bombers' best player with five goals and 27 touches.
