Shaun Mannagh channels Akermanis celebration in Geelong's 54-point win

shaun mannagh lifted Geelong's 54-point win over Collingwood with a third-goal finish from the pocket at the Punt Road end of the MCG, then copied Jason Akermanis' famous celebration. He said the gesture was meant for Akermanis, the old coach who shaped part of his path to the AFL.

Mannagh and Akermanis

Mannagh said he played under Akermanis at North Albury in the Ovens and Murray Football League as a teenager. "I'm really close to Aker," he said, adding, "He's an old coach of mine coming through North Albury; he took me under his wing and taught me a lot."

He also drew a straight line from that relationship to his own career. "I wouldn't be here today (in the AFL) without him in my footy journey," Mannagh said, and the celebration had been waiting in his pocket for years before he brought it out on Saturday night.

McG later at the MCG

The move matched Akermanis' well-known 2005 celebration, with Mannagh placing his right hand over his mouth and his left hand on top of his head. "He's kicked a few goals from pockets like that in the past," Mannagh said of Akermanis, tying the tribute to the way the ball came off his boot.

He said the celebration had been saved for "five, six, seven years now," and that he had never used it until the Collingwood game. That kept the moment from being just a flourish after the siren; it was a specific nod to a former coach who also helped him through the game as a youngster.

Stewart's call home

Mannagh's night also sat inside a bigger Geelong moment, with Tom Stewart having just reached his 200th game. Mannagh said Stewart was the first person from the Cats to contact him after he was drafted, apart from Chris Scott, and the phone call came that night with congratulations and a welcome to the club.

"First day I walked through the doors, he was there, and he's always there to lean on," Mannagh said of Stewart. "Our stories overlap a little bit in terms of being mature aged, so we get around him as much as much as possible and I feel really privileged to play with him."

Geelong's margin against Collingwood was already settled; Mannagh's tribute gave the final quarter a personal edge. For a 28-year-old who has been described as a revelation since being drafted, the celebration pointed back to the coach who helped start the journey and the clubmate who welcomed him into it.