AFL preliminary finals AS IT HAPPENED: Bailey Smith silences critics as Cats advance to big dance; Mammoth crowd achieves 18-year first for electric final

Thanks for following along with tonight's coverage! We will see you tomorrow evening for Collingwood versus Brisbane!

Of Geelong's three emergencies in Rhys Stanley, Jed Bews and Ollie Henry, you'd imagine Bews makes the most sense structurally to replace Stewart in defence.

However, they could flip Blicavs back and bring back Stanley.

They have a healthy list to pick from, the Cats.

It will be the biggest magnet up their sleeve this week.

Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield wound back the clock to lead Geelong to a 30-point victory over Hawthorn in Friday night's preliminary final.

In front of a packed house at the MCG, the Cats booked their place in next weekend's grand final with a 115-85 victory against the Hawks.

Dangerfield "effectively single-handedly" lifted the Cats with a brilliant performance, finishing with three goals, 28 disposals, and eight clearances.

FULL MATCH WRAP

Geelong star Max Holmes on the team's first quarter: "We were pretty rubbish ... we kind of fell apart a bit."

Remember, Hawthorn kicked the first three goals.

Will it be Collingwood, and a rematch of the 2011 grand final, or will it be Brisbane, and a rematch of this year's qualifying final.

One puzzle piece remaining.

Hawthorn's season is over. They won two finals on the road after finishing eighth, but have run out of steam. They'll rue that round 24 loss to Brisbane that cost them a top four spot and potentially a week off.

They were premiership favourites after the first few weeks of the season, but their midfield got obliterated when it mattered tonight.

Could they land Zach Merrett to give them a superstar in the middle? Will Day returning would also be nice. Plenty to look forward to for Hawks fans.

"I thought they fired every shot they had early," Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy.

• Patrick Dangerfield premiership captain? Final piece of his resume
• Bailey Smith premiership player?
• Max Holmes a chance to win a grand final after missing 2022 with his hamstring
• Shaun Mannagh from VFL grand final to AFL
• Can the Cats win the flag AND add Charlie Curnow?
• Will Rhys Stanley earn a grand final recall or will he miss out?
• Tom Stewart will need to be replaced by somebody
• Will Jack Henry's ankle hold up?

FULL TIME: Geelong 17.13. (115) defeats Hawthorn 13.7. (85)

The Cats were too fast, too strong, too classy and too well led. The Hawks ran out of gas in the end and Geelong had too many weapons.

They will face the winner of Collingwood versus Brisbane next Saturday.

After a controversial week, and after some boos tonight from Hawthorn fans, Bailey Smith has given the crowd a shush after kicking the winning goal.

He's had 36 disposals tonight. A proven finals performer at this point, if you include his early work at the Dogs.

Four minutes left. Cats lead by 30. This feels all but over now.

Bailey Smith has been unbelievable in his first prelim. He kicks the sealer to go with his 34 disposals and six clearances.

Smith, Holmes, Miers, Atkins and Cameron have all led the way alongside Dangerfield. The taggers have won their battles.

Geelong has dominated since the opening 10 minutes of this one.