AN INSPIRING performance from Tom Hawkins has rescued Geelong's season from the brink of disaster with the Cats defeating Richmond by nine points at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

There was a feeling pre-match that plenty would be learned about each team on Saturday afternoon, given their precarious ladder positions.

The Tigers were ninth with two wins and the Cats in the unfamiliar position of 15th with one, coming off a surprise loss to North Melbourne in Geelong.

But it was Cats, still undermanned without Andrew Mackie, Mathew Stokes and Jimmy Bartel, that made the more emphatic statement with the 12.13 (85) to 11.10 (76) win. 

It came as a cost. Veteran James Kelly was taken to hospital in the third quarter after suffering a groin injury.

Hawkins was terrific. With Mitch Clark out with a foot injury, the full-forward marked strongly and made life hell for David Astbury in the first quarter with his contested marking.

While he finished with three goals and five marks, he was involved in a range of other scoring opportunities and often brought the ball to ground to allow his teammates to capitalise.

He wasn't on his own, with Josh Walker also playing a strong game to end with two goals and nine marks.

In the end, it was the Cats' ability to make the most of their forward opportunities that was the difference, with the Tigers wasting their chances when they enjoyed purple patches in the midfield.

Trent Cotchin tried desperately to get his team over the line with 11 touches in the third quarter that kept them within 19 points at three-quarter time.

After the Cats led by as much as 28 points and were in a position to run away with it after half-time, it was a feat for the Tigers to still be in the contest.

And to their credit, they hung in there. Four straight goals in the final term, the last of which came from Astbury following his shift into attack after half-time, cut a 31-point deficit to 10 points.

But with just over a minute remaining, everything had to go right for the Tigers to pinch the win.

They continued to press forward and Cotchin blasted the ball off the ground from a contest deep in attack with 22 seconds left, but it was right of centre and registered a point.

Mitch Duncan was the Cats' best with 29 disposals and two goals while Harry Taylor took 13 marks as he alternated with Corey Enright as the spare man in defence.

Joel Selwood was well held by Shaun Grigg in the first half but found more of the ball when Anthony Miles took over.

The Cats defenders were also influential. Taylor, Enright and Jared Rivers were important, even after Astbury's move made the former accountable and reduced his output.

A week after starting the game in the green vest, Steve Johnson made some strange decisions and was caught a few times with the ball.

He gave the Cats drive into attack, despite his unpredictable mood, and kicked a goal in the telling final term.

Ty Vickery tried in his first game for the season but was also inaccurate in attack, which was a trend that hurt the Tigers when they peppered five behinds and failed to kick a goal in the first term.

In the second, it was all Richmond early. Vickery took a couple of marks but managed just one goal, but as a team they tackled hard and dominated at the centre clearances.

Selwood was pinned by Grigg and Dawson Simpson struggled around the ground against the more-mobile Ivan Maric.

Alex Rance moved to Hawkins, and the Tigers double-teamed him when the Cats went inside 50, and Astbury took on Josh Walker.

But all the Tigers' hard work resulted in just two goals in 14 minutes, and the Cats were able to absorb the flurry of forward entries and hold a lead of two points.

Suddenly, the switch flicked. A goal to Mitch Duncan after he danced around Nick Vlastuin kicked off a run of four, and the Cats took the handy 28-point lead into half-time that wasn't headed.

RICHMOND   0.5   2.6   6.8   11.10   (76) 
GEELONG     2.2   7.4   9.9   12.13   (85) 

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Astbury, Cotchin, Edwards, C.Ellis, Grigg, Houli, Miles, Vickery
Geelong: Hawkins 3, Duncan 2, Walker 2, Blicavs, Johnson, Kersten, Lang, Motlop

BEST 
Richmond: Cotchin, Houli, Grigg, Rance, Riewoldt, Maric
Geelong: Duncan, Rivers, Hawkins, Taylor, Walker, Motlop

INJURIES 
Richmond: Nil
Geelong: James Kelly (groin)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Sam Lloyd replaced Ben Lennon in the third quarter
Geelong: George Horlin-Smith replaced James Kelly in the third quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Foot, Meredith, Mollison

Official crowd: 45,228 at the MCG