The Western Bulldogs have rallied from a 25-point half-time deficit against Geelong to set up a heart-stopping finish in Bailey Smith’s first game against his former side.

In a high-scoring shootout with nearly 250 points and 36 goals scored, Geelong held on to win 20.7 (127) to 16.17 (113), with Shannon Neale kicking two of his five goals in the dying stages.

Tyson Stengle then iced the win with 30 seconds to go.

Smith had 33 touches along with fellow Cat Max Holmes, while Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli had a quiet night by his standards with 23 possessions.

Missing skipper Patrick Dangerfield, Geelong shot out to a dominant half-time lead 70-45 on the back of Jeremy Cameron starring up front. He bagged six goals for the match.

The game was Cats veteran Mitch Duncan’s 300th and he was chaired off the field by his victorious teammates.

He became emotional post-game as he spoke about former teammate Joel Selwood. Two of the former Cats skipper’s brothers, Troy and Adam, both died in tragic circumstances in recent months with West Coast great Adam passing away last weekend.

Smith revealed after the match he would not have played due to injury if the game had not been against his old team.

“I probably wasn’t going to play if it wasn’t the Bulldogs game or a final or a grand final. I had to jab my shin up four times at half-time and before the game, but I got up there somehow,” he told Fox Footy.

Smith also said he was not heavily sledged during the game after a cheeky war of words leading into it.

“They were good, they looked after me. I don’t know if they meant to. I think they thought I wanted the attention but I didn’t. So good, I got away with it. I was just keen to beat them,” he said.

Smith said not engaging with him may have been a deliberate ploy of the Bulldogs.

“I certainly shit myself for this game but it was almost reverse psychology with them not giving me attention,” Smith told Channel Seven post-match.

“So it was good, they didn’t go after me and I loved it. I’m so glad we beat them.”

A series of cheeky barbs from both sides of the fence - first Smith, then Bontempelli and coach Luke Beveridge - lit the fuse for an explosive encounter.

Tension with another party boiled over before the bounce, when Beveridge clashed with Channel Seven commentator Kane Cornes in a heated confrontation on the boundary line.

Smith had 10 disposals in an entertaining first term, bettered only by Holmes (13), but it was the Bulldogs who led by three points at quarter-time.

Their lead didn’t last long.

Geelong seized control with six consecutive goals to open the second stanza, including three to Cameron, and led by as much as 33 points before half-time as they repeatedly punished the Bulldogs’ skill errors.

Holmes brought Cats fans to their feet in the third quarter with three bounces down the wing and a team-lifting goal on the run.

Two goals each to Buku Khamis and Matt Kennedy helped keep the Bulldogs within reach as they piled 7.4 to 5.1 in a free-scoring term.

Successive free kicks paid against Bulldogs ruckman Tim English gifted Cameron his sixth major.

But two late goals in the shadows of three-quarter time through Joel Freijah and Laitham Vandermeer got the Dogs back within 10 points at the final change.

Scores were level with less than seven minutes left before Neale struck two decisive late blows.

Smith and Tom Liberatore tangled late after the Cats midfielder ruffled James O’Donnell’s hair but there did not appear to be anything untoward in the exchange.

Liberatore (31 disposals, nine clearances) and Ed Richards (29 touches, 10 clearances, two goals) were huge in the Bulldogs’ second-half comeback.

Matt Kennedy (25 disposals, three goals) and Aaron Naughton (three goals) were also important.

Geelong’s win gave them a 7-4 record, while the Bulldogs slipped to 6-5.

With AAP