Saturday night the Cats ruled the roost at Simonds Stadium where they slammed the Saints to the ground, leaving them with a 101-point defeat.

Despite the loss of Dawson Simpson, who will most likely spend the rest of the season sidelined after hampering his knee in second term, Motlop is confident the Cats have plenty of tall players they can slot in the ruck.

“We’ve got a great ruck combo there and we’ve got guys like Trent West who also can come in and play,” Motlop explained.

“It’s very disappointing for Dawson and hopefully it’s not too bad after the scans, but obviously we’ve got guys playing good footy in the VFL that can take his place.”

The Cats were relentless in every corner of the ground, kicking 15 goals to nil between the early stages of the second quarter to the last. Their increasing force on Saturday night drove the ball inside-50 63 times compared to the Saints who were only given 25 opportunities to shoot for goal.

Motlop was pleased with the Cats efforts in bringing the ball forward, which enabled Geelong’s big gun, Tom Hawkins, to add five huge goals to the scoreboard.

“The aim is to keep playing the game in our half and keep getting the entries, I think we got a lot of entries this week and the more entries the more likely we’ll score and give the big boys a chance,” Motlop said.

This week Motlop ventured further out into the filed, where he enjoyed playing on the ball and matching up to Travis Varcoe’s leg speed in the midfield.

“I just wanted to get up around the ball a bit more. I’ve been playing a lot more deep and I just wanted to get up in the midfield and get more of the ball and have a good run around with Travie, it panned out alright,” Motlop said.

Motlop, who delivered 29 disposals and four goals, felt Mitch Brown stood up to the pace and operated his role well.   

“Even Mitch Brown came in and really performed and that’s all we ask of guys to come in and play a role, and Mackie, who has had all the experience, backs it up every week.”

It’s now time for the Cats to focus on perfecting their game to make sure they’re well prepared for the final series, as the end of the season is fast approaching with only five rounds left.

“We want to improve week by week so we’re playing good footy by finals.”

Friday night’s game will be another exciting test for the Cats.  

“North Melbourne have been playing some good footy and there’s no better test than next week’s Friday night footy.”

Click on the video above to catch the full interview with Steve Motlop.