WHEN the first recorded game of Australian Rules was played 150 years ago, founding father Tom Wills could not have imagined things a century-and-a-half on.
That one side, Geelong, could kick 24 goals in one game and play with such skill and panache in the wet; that another side, Melbourne, could do things so badly; and that there was such a gulf between the best and the worst in the professional age.
Geelong's 116-point thrashing of an embarrassing Melbourne at the MCG tonight underlined why the Cats are a raging premiership favourite and how far the bottom side has to go before it can be competitive regularly.
The Cats kept Melbourne scoreless in the first quarter, denied them their first goal for all but 82 seconds of the first half, and peppered the goals with ridiculous ease.
Geelong's 24.13 (157) to 5.11 (51) win kicked off Tom Wills Round, which commemorates the first time the game was played, when one goal was booted in a game played over three successive Saturdays.
Heaven help Melbourne if they played Geelong the next two weekends.
Geelong's Tom Lonergan and Mathew (Mathew) Stokes booted four goals each and Brent Primsmall three, midfielders Joel Selwood and James Kelly were excellent and Andrew Mackie, Corey Enright and Matthew Scarlett set up wave after wave of attack from defence.
Geelong's ability to keep the ball alive and find teammates in space was a constant feature, but in contrast Melbourne committed every footballing sin.
They failed to man up, missed tackles, dropped marks, used the ball awfully, made bad decisions and when the few occasions arose, kicked badly at goal.
The differences told on the scoreboard.
Geelong booted the first 10 goals, led 53-0 at quarter-time and were 61 points up when Melbourne managed their first score, a rushed behind when Geelong defender Josh Hunt fumbled the ball over the goal line.
Even that relief was short-lived, as Lonergan scored a goal from the resultant Geelong kick-in.
The Demons avoided the humiliation of not scoring a goal in the first half thanks to Austin Wonaeamirri, who kicked truly late in the second quarter after three teammates all missed badly.
Geelong led by 70 points at half-time and 100 halfway through the third quarter, when a massive defeat beckoned.
But Melbourne were much better in the second half, and found two highlights, in ruckman Paul Johnson's dribbled goal in the last quarter and the performance of nuggety onballer Shane Valenti, who booted two goals.
Other good players for Geelong included onballers Joel Corey and Cameron Ling, while colleague Gary Ablett got throuigh his first game in a month, and kicked two goals.
Geelong's win means they need just one more victory from the remaining three rounds to secure the minor premiership.
They could achieve that this weekend if the Western Bulldogs (second) and Hawthorn (third) both lose.
To mark the 150th anniversary since the first game between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, the two schools played a curtain-raiser and Grammar won 10.12 (72) to 9.8 (62).
AAP