The period between those long summer months and round one of every premiership season is now dominated by phrases such as “best pre-season” and “burning up the track”.

As the mercury continues to sit above thirty degrees and the sun beats down on training facilities across the AFL, we hear that player X is absolutely flying or that club Y is primed for an all-out assault on the flag.

To this end, the Cats were no different.

But after eight rounds of the 2016 season, the data suggests any of that unsurprising pre-season hype regarding fitness was indeed warranted.

First and foremost – Geelong currently sits in second position on the ladder with a 7-1 record, which in itself is impressive enough for a side that failed to make the finals for the first time in nearly a decade in 2015.

What is more impressive, however, is that the Cats run out games better than any other team in the competition.

Simply put – the Cats are yet to lose a fourth quarter this season and are completely blowing sides out of the water in the final term.

In eight last quarters so far in 2016, the Cats have scored 40 goals, 27 behinds for a total of 267 points. Alternatively, their opposition have a combined 9 goals, 91 behinds for 73 points.

It is a truly remarkable statistic which is only more noteworthy when you consider Geelong is averaging the second least rotations of all 18 teams in the AFL.

TABLE: Geelong vs. opposition in final quarters in 2016