Patrick Dangerfield and Jeremy Cameron have kicked four goals each as Geelong opened Gather Round in style with an entertaining 19-point win over Adelaide.
Both sides showed plenty of attacking flair and the Cats outlasted their opponents in an 18.11 (119) to 15.10 (100) victory at a sold-out Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.
Geelong trailed by as much as 30 points after Crows forward Darcy Fogarty kicked four goals in a stunning second quarter.
But the visitors, who suffered a pre-match blow when star defender Tom Stewart was ruled out with illness, surged back in a game of swinging momentum.
Cats captain Dangerfield was a constant threat against his former club and key forward Jeremy Cameron kicked two crucial goals at the start of the final quarter.
Dangerfield kicked the next two as four in a row to Geelong tilted the match in their favour before Cameron slotted the sealer in the dying stages.
The Cats were cleaner when it mattered, handling the pressure better in front of 50,073 fans and kicking five goals to one in the final term.
Bailey Smith (35 disposals) and Max Holmes (32) were influential for the Cats and Tom Atkins (24 touches, nine clearances) was busy at stoppages while shadowing Izak Rankine.
Fogarty (four) and Ben Keays (three) were the best of the Crows' goal-kickers and Rankine kicked two from 25 disposals despite close attention from Atkins.
Taylor Walker also finished with two after slotting the first of the night when he ran rings around Mark Blicavs and produced a brilliant snap.
It was the first of 20 goals between the sides in an entertaining first half.
Walker, Keays and Fogarty were all central figures as the Crows burst five goals clear midway through the second quarter.
But the Cats kicked four of the last five goals before halftime to close within 12 points.
The visitors' charge continued after the break and they hit the front when Oliver Dempsey (two goals) took a huge mark over Mark Keane in the goal-square and converted.
Adelaide returned fire and led by eight points at the final change but Cameron's two goals at the start of the last quarter gave the Cats momentum.
Dangerfield gave them a buffer and while the Crows never gave up, they couldn't reel their opponents back in.
Fittingly, Cameron kicked the sealer at the 29-minute mark the final term.