Live: Cats face red-hot Blues in blockbuster MCG elimination final

Geelong and Carlton face off in a sudden death elimination final at the MCG as they look to keep their post-season hopes alive.Fri 4 Sep 2026 at 6:53pmFri 4 Sep 2026 at 6:53pmHow the Cats and the Blues got here(Getty Images)The Cats finished fifth at the end of the home and away season on the back of a solid if unspectacular campaign. Normally you can lock Chris Scott's Geelong in for a top four spot pretty routinely, but they finished a game outside the double chance this time out.Still, reinforced by some returning stars, internally they will believe they are still in a fine spot to attack a premiership. If finals experience counts for anything (and it most certainly does), Geelong are among the best placed sides this year.Blues fans meanwhile spent the first half of the season looking over the draft crop and and dreaming of better days ahead. Few would have believed how close those better days could be.(Getty Images)Michael Voss was sacked, Josh Fraser stepped in and the Blues went stratospheric. Suddenly this young, hungry and thrilling side was swatting aside all comers and making the impossible suddenly feel inevitable.They qualified for wildcard weekend, where they promptly knocked Melbourne out. Next up Geelong for a side that now fears absolutely nobody.Fri 4 Sep 2026 at 6:44pmFri 4 Sep 2026 at 6:44pmFinal Cats and Blues teams are in(AFL.com.au)No late changes for either side.There were a few surprises when the Cats named their side yesterday, with Sam De Koning left out along with Jhye Clark and Jack Martin. Replacing them are Max Holmes, Oliver Wiltshire and Mark Blicavs. Pretty good ins.Just the one change for the Blues, with Wade Derksen in for the injure Nick Haynes.Fri 4 Sep 2026 at 6:29pmFri 4 Sep 2026 at 6:29pmWelcome to a Friday night elimination finalGood evening and welcome back to ABC Sport's live blog coverage of the 2026 AFL season. September footy is here at last, and after a healthy dollop of finals action last night we are heading to the MCG for a knockout game to savour.Tonight, Geelong and Carlton face off in a battle to keep their seasons alive. The Cats are no strangers to the September stage, flag contenders for as long as they have another game to play. The Blues are the story of the season, inspired by Josh Fraser to one of the most incredible mid-season resurrections we've ever seen.It's finals experience against a full head of steam. An unstoppable force and an immovable object. It shapes up as a potential classic. Stick around, hit up the comments, and let's enjoy some finals footy together.