The VFLW Bendigo Bank Cats have won two-from-two to start their season after winning a highly-contested battle against Hawthorn by three goals on Saturday.

The Cats started strongly to build their lead early and weather a strong Hawks challenge for the final three quarters to win 5.3 (33) to 2.3 (15) at Deakin University Elite Sports Precinct.

As she did last week, Georgia Clarke gave the Cats the perfect start with the opening goal of the contest. Breanna Pratt - who scored the first goal of her VFLW career in Round 1 - followed up this week with her second goal and the second of the match against the Hawks.

Danielle Higgins, who'd be working hard in the first quarter, was rewarded when she scored the third goal of the match a minute later, giving the Cats a three-goal buffer.

They held that lead going into the first break, having kept Hawthorn to just one behind, but the visitors struck back with a fiercely contested style in the second quarter.

With neither side willing to give an inch, it was an arm wrestle of a term, before Hawthorn broke through at the 14-minute mark with the only goal of the quarter, coming off the boot of Jessie Williams.

The third term was a similarly dour affair, but with just two goals separating the team, but a great team play late in the quarter finished with Mia Skinner snapping a goal to restore the Cats' three-goal advantage.

Madisen Maguire pushed it out to a four-goal lead early in the final term, before a late goal to Tegan Cunningham brought it back to three.

Gutsy midfielder Tamara Smith continued her excellent form from last week, finishing with 22 disposals, 13 tackles and three clearances, while young AFLW-listed midfielder Laura Gardiner had a game-high 23 disposals, as well as four tackles and four clearances.

Paige Sheppard again brought the pressure, laying 12 tackles to go with her 14 disposals, while AFLW-listed ruck Liv Fuller had 15 disposals, 13 hitouts and four tackles, including a timely one at the top of the goal square in the fourth quarter to stop Kristy Stratton in her tracks and deny the Hawks a scoring opportunity.

Defender Elise Coventry was reading the ball beautifully, with a number of crucial intercept marks to swing momentum, while Chloe Leonard finished with a game-high five clearances, to go with her 10 disposals and six tackles.

Cats VFLW senior coach Andrew Bruce said the game showed his charges could stand up to a challenge.

"It was a very different game, the Hawks brought pressure all day long and played some really good footy," Bruce said.

"From the start, it was a hot game, but to manage to get the four points was really good for the group.

"I've probably taken (from the first two weeks) that our girls have a crack non-stop. They're willing to listen and try to bring into play the things we want them to.

"But they just have a real red-hot go, and I love the way they pressure the opposition and then try to get the ball out once we get in possession to give our forwards the chance to score.

"I just love the way they go about it, to be honest."

The game was a good test for the Cats as it wasn't always on the their terms, and there are some areas Bruce would like to see them clean up before next week's clash against Port Melbourne, including decision-making going forward.

"We try to get better at our fundamentals all the time," Bruce said. "Last week we had a lot of dropped marks, (so) we spent a lot of time on that, putting pressure on the girls at training.

"(We want to see) a little growth each week with all the different elements of the game try to keep going forward."

VFLW Round 2

Geelong      3.0   3.1   4.2   5.3 (33)
Hawthorn   0.1   1.2   1.2   2.3 (54)

GOALS
Geelong Georgia Clarke, Breanna Pratt, Danielle Higgins, Mia Skinner, Madisen Maguire
Hawthorn Jessie Williams, Tegan Cunningham

BEST
Geelong Tamara Smith, Paige Sheppard, Laura Gardiner, Georgia Clarke 
Hawthorn Tegan Cunningham, Dom Carbone, Nic Garner, Jaide Anthony

Saturday, 19 February 2022 at Deakin University Elite Sports Precinct