It was billed as a battle of the big forwards during the week, and for the Cats, both Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins did indeed deliver, but it was the work of the smaller players at their feet that Hawkins says deserves some attention.

As is becoming a regular feature, the Cats' keys were instrumental in Geelong’s five goal win on Saturday night, the pair providing a combined five goals, 32 touches, 11 marks, and 20 score involvements but after the game, Hawkins wanted to talk about his teammates.

“I thought our small to mid-forwards were excellent tonight,” he told Channel 7 after the siren.

“They applied a lot of pressure and did a lot of the grunt work which allows Jeremy, Chuckie (Gary Rohan), Tyson (Stengle), and I to be able to stay forward of the footy and be dangerous.

"So, they did a lot of the grunt work but we were lucky enough to finish off with a couple.”

Brad Close set the scene early in the game with a ferocious run down of Patrick Cripps when he looked to be away, while Rohan and Stengle did their fair share of the dirty work as well – their scramble, chase, pressure mentality at times causing chaos in the Cats forward 50 for the Carlton defenders. 

Geelong captain Joel Selwood, arguably the Cats’ best on the night, was also keen to deflect praise onto the grit and grind brigade.

“[Tom and Jeremy] are getting a lot of support too,” he said. “The boys that are putting the pressure on and being at their feet - I thought Tyson, Gryan (Miers), and Gary down there, were doing a great job.”

Geelong takes on Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval next Saturday.