In a season of upsets, the Cats caused one of the biggest shocks of the year, defying the odds, recent form and a red-and-white hoodoo to dump the Swans out of the finals in unceremonious fashion.

The Swans had entered the final the form team of the competition but turned in one of their worst performances of the year to crash to a 15.8-98 to 5.9-39 loss.

The club known for its finals football was given a September lesson by the Cats. They lost the possession count by 120, were beaten by 25 for contested possessions yet still lost the tackle count by six. Their score of 39 was their lowest since round one, 1997.

Skipper Josh Kennedy had a rare off night, limited to 20 possessions by Geloong's Mark Blicavs, while Luke Parker fared even worse with only 13. Star forward Lance Franklin was well beaten by Harry Taylor, who after Tom Lonergan's late withdrawal kept the Coleman Medallist goalless. Naismith had eight disposals, 31 hit-outs, three kicks and made five tackles.