2022 AFL Grand Final: Geelong fans celebrate as Swans fans lick their wounds

There were contrasting scenes between Cats and Swans fans on Saturday night after Geelong triumphed in the 2022 AFL Grand Final.

The Cats had 81-point winners and claimed their 10th flag in a dominant, one-sided fashion.

After the game, Cats fans took to the streets to celebrate their victory, while Swans fans had to wait pondering what could have been, as their wait for Grand Final glory stretches into a decade.

Sydney looked like a ghost town, while Geelong supporters partied late into the night.

The Cats started the game with a stunning opening quarter of 41-6 and never headed, leading 62-26 at halftime before taking off with the game in the second half.

Speaking to Channel 7 postgame, Cats captain Joel Selwood said his side deserved a big final win.

“Man, it’s… They’re so hard to win. They are so hard to win. Every side says it, but I think we deserved one,” he said.

“I was just running away. We make no apologies for being there every year. So much, please go all around. They all have great stories.’

Cats fans revel in Grand Final glory, their first premiership in over a decade.

Back in Sydney, supporters called it an early evening.

Swans’ supporters lounge in Sydney was gloomy as was the weather and many people left as the evening set in.

Like the two supporter groups who had wildly different nights, the pre-match and halftime entertainment was met with varying reviews.

Robbie Williams got the day off to a flying start with a hair-raising set list of all his greatest hits and a cover of John Farnham’s The Voice.

He also paid tribute to Shane Warne when the cricket legend’s children sat in the MCG booth that now bears his name.

He was later joined by Delta Goodrem for a duet of his song Kids.

One viewer wrote: ‘Best pregame I’ve seen. Robbie was built for that attitude. Good start to the day.’

‘Wow! It’s safe to say the @AFL performed the pre-match entertainment with @robbiewilliams then @robbiewilliams & @DeltaGoodrem,” one person wrote on social media.

Williams described his friend Warne as “Australia’s biggest rock star” as the cameras cut to his grieving son Jackson into the crowd at the world-famous sports ground.

The pop star also paid tribute to John Farnham – who was recently diagnosed with cancer – with a rousing performance of his signature song You’re the Voice, which the entire audience sang in unison.

Unfortunately, viewers didn’t react very well to the pre-halftime entertainment. The most diverse and progressive halftime show in the history of the AFL Grand Final was denounced by viewers as “worse than Meatloaf’s disastrous performance in 2011.”

Australia’s First Nation performers took the spotlight on Saturday’s halftime show at the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne, but some disgruntled viewers called it a “wakeful” move designed to “tick boxes”.

While Australian rock band Goanna led the performance with their 1982 hit Solid Rock, they were joined by native artists including Christine Anu, Emma Donovan, Tasman Keith and William Barton.

Indie rockers The Temper Trap also performed with native stars Budjerah and Ngaiire.

Adding more diversity to the halftime lineup was non-binary singer G Flip, who uses she/them pronouns and is currently dating American reality star Chrishell Stause from Netflix’s Selling Sunset.

G Flip opened the performance with a roaring drum solo, before returning later to release Jet’s Are You Gonna Be My Girl.

Christine Anu and Emma Donovan were then introduced with an incredible didgeridoo solo, which transitioned into Goanna’s Solid Rock.

While many viewers were no doubt happy to see underrepresented minority groups taking center stage, others called it “wake up” and said the vocals weren’t up to par.

“That halftime show was pretty bad, it felt like they were trying to wake up. Is it me?’ one complained.

‘Terrible halftime show during the @AFL grand final. More about ticking off than entertainment! We get the lesson every day about it coming into sport,” another tweeted.