Geelong smashed Melbourne by 71 points on Saturday in their AFL NAB Cup match at Skilled Stadium.

The reigning regular-season premiers were awesome for most of the match, crushing Melbourne 2.22.10 (160) to 2.11.5 (89).

Steve Johnson kicked six goals for the Cats and midfielder Brent Prismall had 35 touches.

Geelong will now play St Kilda next weekend in Canberra, while Melbourne and Richmond will have a challenge match in Cairns.

After a typically-dynamic start, Cats star Gary Ablett was forced off in the first term with a calf injury and did not return.

Geelong led by 63 points at 19 minutes in the second term, but the Demons ended the half with a nine-point goal to Simon Buckley and a goal to Michael Newton and trailed by 48 points at the main break.

Melbourne continued to improve in the third term as Colin Garland kicked their second nine-pointer.

Garland's super goal reduced the margin to 26 points.

But Johnson's fourth on the three-quarter time siren took Geelong's advantage back out to 35 points and the Cats kicked clear again in the final term.

Geelong were awesome for much of the first half, opening the game with three consecutive goals.

The premiers kicked eight goals to two in the opening quarter.

The highlight of the match came in the second term, when David Wojcinski worked hard along the boundary line on the half-forward flank.

His persistence set up Shannon Byrnes for the first nine-pointer of the match and also their biggest lead.

Cats key forward Lonergan kicked two goals in his first senior game since 2006, when he lost a kidney after a collision at Skilled Stadium, also against Melbourne.

Simon Buckley and Nathan Jones were best for the Demons.

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