George Horlin-Smith said last Saturday night's battle against the Saints was a tough contest, despite their 101-point win.  

Once the game was in full swing the Cats were able to push through St Kilda’s pressure, however, Horlin-Smith admitted the contest wasn’t as easy as the scoreboard made out, especially in the first half.

“We played some good footy in the second half but the first half the heat was on, St Kilda really brought on the pressure and it was just nice that we could shut the game down a little bit,” Horlin-Smith told RSN Radio.

Horlin-Smith, who achieved 16 possessions, four clearances and five marks against St Kilda last week, believed the Cats defensive pressure, which lifted in the third term, was the key to their success on Saturday night.     

“It was great to have a good win and we just defended really hard in the second half, which was really important.”

“It’s something we’re been working on the last few weeks, we were probably leaking too many points earlier on in the year, defending hard and just being really hard to play against is something we’ve been working on and it was good to implement it.

“We need to continue to improve our game in the next few weeks before the finals, we understand if we don’t improve before the finals we just won’t hold up so it’s important that we keep finding areas that we need to improve on.

“In saying that we keep getting better at what we’re doing well, things like being hard to play against and limiting scoring opportunities for the opposition, they’re the areas we need to keep improving on.”

The young midfielder, Horlin-Smith, has played eight games with the Cats senior list this year, where he’s averaged 15 disposals a game and three goals for the season. Horlin-Smith understands the difficulty in cracking into a successful side like Geelong and he realises how much work he needs to put into each week to prove himself, despite which list he’s in.

“There are a lot of guys that are on the cusp and in and out of the side at the moment but we’re working hard when we’re playing in the twos (VFL), as well as when we’re playing in the ones to make sure we improve our game and contribute from week to week,” Horlin-Smith explained.  

Since arriving at the club from South Australia three years ago Horlin-Smith has inherited a clear direction of where he wants to be and the steps he needs to take to get there. Currently his main focus is developing his presence in the midfield, by increasing his endurance and judgment around the ball.

“For me when you’re playing in the midfield you need to be a contested player to continue working on the right decisions when leaving the stoppages, as well as body positioning around contested situations,” Horlin-Smith said.   

This week the Cats have another tough contest in front of them against the Roos. Even though Horlin-Smith didn’t play them last time they met at Etihad stadium he remembers the battle very clearly and he knows exactly what's required to overcome them.

“North Melbourne had us on toast at the start and we got out of jail, so it’s important that we don’t get ourselves in that same position and that we do really start the game well,” Horlin-Smith said.