Geelong veteran Tom Lonergan told SEN Radio that the Cats have a significant amount of improving to do before they reach this year’s top contenders.

Last Saturday’s 66-point win against Melbourne, the Cats enjoyed one of their best starts of the year only to be left with another sluggish and disappointing ending.  

“We had a really good first half, it was probably the best first half we’ve had in a long time and I think after quarter time we felt like our game was working really well,” Lonergan explained on SEN's The Run Home.  

“But when the second half rolled around we were really disappointed with the way we played, we took our foot off the pedal and played into Melbourne’s hands a little bit and we didn’t play as well as we would have liked.

“So we’ve still got a fair bit to work on to be as good as your Sydneys, Fremantles and Hawthorns – so plenty of improvement left.”

Despite the Cats less attractive second half, Steven Motlop extracted another electric performance of 26 touches, eight inside-50s and a goal, following a career best show of 30 disposals the week before.

Considering Motlop’s late arrival into the season, Lonergan is thrilled with what he’s been able to achieve, although, he’s confident the youngster has a lot more to give as he gathers more continuity into his game.  

“He’s an excitement machine, I think he’s as good as Cyril (Rioli) when he’s on top of his game,” Lonergan said.  

“He’s so exciting to watch and he really helps us in transitioning the footy from defence to attack and he does it really quickly.

“He’s a pretty integral part of our side now and I think he’s only going to get better and better.

“He’s come off a fairly long lay-off with his knee and only started playing halfway through the year – so he’s got lots of improvement left in him and that’s good for us.”

With the Cats 2014 run not being as smooth as previous years, speculation has started to emerge around the club’s status within the competition.

While the Cats list is very different from those glory years, Lonergan says the change from older to younger players was an inevitable process, which has enabled the club to go forward.

“I think in that 2007 to 2010 period we did have some pretty seasoned campaigners so our depth was quite long and if one guy was out another experienced guy came in, so it probably has changed in that regard I say,” Lonergan said.

“Obviously the list has certainly changed and like all teams you’ve got to go through the process of bringing in the younger guys and giving them games.”

Despite dubious opinions outside the club, the Cats have managed to keep themselves near the top of the ladder with 12 wins to only four losses.

“I think it’s a matter of trying to give those guys as many games and hopefully we can win many games along the way so we can stay up the top of the ladder and at the moment we’re trying to do that,” Lonergan explained.  

With many more challenges to come and finals looming ahead, Lonergan believes the only way to keep afloat is to fight every battle as though it’s your last.

“For us we just enjoy the contest each game we go out, especially the older guys and we try and employ this into the younger guys, you’ve just got to love playing footy and try to win each game and it doesn’t matter who you’re playing against and that’s what we try and do every week,” Lonergan said.

“We go out and try our best and I think that’s all you can ask for.

“We know we’ve got a pretty good coach who knows the game really well and we all believe in what he’s trying to do, so we’ve just got to believe it ourselves and keep going.”