Exciting Geelong midfielder Jason Davenport last night continued the trend of Cats’ players dissatisfied with their standout performances in the VFL.

Davenport, who overcame illness in time to play yesterday, delivered one of his best performances of the season in Geelong’s 21-point loss to Werribee at Bartercard Oval.

Looking close to his blistering best, the explosive wingman rotated through the midfield and up forward on his way to 30 disposals and five goals.

If there is one glowing positive to emerge out of the Cats’ precarious VFL season, it’s the relentless pursuit of excellence from the club’s fringe players.

Two weeks ago, Tom Hawkins kicked seven goals but bluntly admitted he had not improved in the main areas he was sent to the VFL to work on.

And last night, Davenport was borderline savage when asked how he rated his performance, despite coach Leigh Tudor labeling it as his side’s best.

“To be honest I was a bit disappointed, I thought my kicking when I was in the midfield was a bit ineffective throughout the game, so that was disappointing,” Davenport said.

“A couple of balls bounced my way going forward to allow me to kick a couple of goals, but all in all I was pretty disappointed with my disposal today.

“No, I think I’ve definitely played better (this year), without doubt, I think I’ve been pretty consistent except for one or two games this year, which is what I need to be, if not playing even better.

“Look, obviously five goals and 30 touches might make it sound like an OK game, but there was a lot of things I can improve on out of the game overall.”

Right now, this hard-wired attitude is the driving force behind the formidable depth at the club.

Obviously, Davenport is under no false impressions of his areas of weakness and is his harshest critic when it comes to improving his disposal.

While Davenport enjoys the thrill of sneaking forward and kicking a goal, all he is after is a well-rounded game capable of bringing total consistency every week.

“I don’t know if it’s perfection, and Hawk’s probably in the same boat, as younger players of the game there’s always areas you can improve in your game,” he said.

“As much as you enjoy kicking goals, you want to look at the things you’re not doing well so you can become a more complete player.

“I don’t think it’s about seeking perfection, it’s about becoming a more complete player and to add that value to the team”

Tudor said the 22-year-old’s performance yesterday was amplified by the fact he battled to overcome illness during the week.

“To kick five goals as a forward and then play in the midfield after half time was a pretty good effort from him today, I thought he was our best, he was really good,” Tudor said.

“He was a bit crook during the week, so to get up for the game to mark well and still try to run the game out was a good result for him.”

Davenport, who was promoted off the rookie list at the end of last season, conceded he was still a little way off breaking through for his AFL debut.

But he said even if his form did warrant senior contention, getting a crack in the all-conquering AFL line-up was as hard as “trying to escape from Alcatraz”.

“You look at Harry Taylor and Brent Prismall being dropped after a 130-point win and they both contributed and played their role,” Davenport said.

“I think you can use the quote, “It’s like trying to escape from Alcatraz” trying to get a game here.

“We’ve just got to keep putting pressure on those blokes for them to play well and then if our opportunity arises we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go and ready to play our role.”

Davenport wasn’t the only player to strike an impression with Tudor, with the coach listing Matt Firman, David Johnson, Kane Tenace, Nathan Djerrkura and Brent Prismall as strong performers.

“Pris was heavily tagged today, I think his opponent had five possessions and Pris had quite a few himself (30), so it was a tough day at the office for him,” Tudor said.

“Kane’s first half, he was probably one of our better in-and-under players and really got some momentum going our way with his work at the stoppages.

“(Johnson’s) courage and his decision-making again were outstanding and in the last quarter when his man played behind the ball, Dave made some really good decisions … he played well.”