After locking in a top-two finish at the end of the Home and Away season, it's time to reflect on some standout statistics from key Cats who helped drive Geelong to the top.

Defence

Defence was even more important in 2025 than any other year with opposition teams boasting highly skilled, damaging and dynamic forward lines. The Cats had the fourth best defence of the year, only conceding an average of 74.5 points per game. 

It was Geelong’s ability to control the airways that helped them to contain opposition attacks with Jack Henry, Connor O’Sullivan and Tom Stewart all placing inside the Top 20 in the AFL for intercept marks.

Zach Guthrie took a total of 157 marks for the season which was the ninth most of any player in the league, with Stewart’s tally of 139 not far behind (17th). O’Sullivan and Stewart led Geelong’s intercept possession count (124) with Jack Henry next in line (123), placing them also in the top 30 in the AFL for that category.

O’Sullivan certainly impressed in 2025 with his high flying marks a consistent threat, but he also managed to finish 20th in the comp for one percenters with 112.

Geelong’s defence was well supported all year by Sam De Koning who lead the Cats for spoils this season with 96, along with the ever reliable Mark Blicavs (third for one percenters at Geelong). Dashing defender Lawson Humphries led the cats for Rebound 50’s with 91 for the season.

Special mention to Tom Atkins who’s tackling efforts saw him break the all time V/AFL record for tackles in a season (205)*. Atkins ranked third in the competition for Defensive Half Pressure Acts (284), sixth for tackles inside forward 50 (31) and second for general pressure acts (640).

*At time of writing Matt Rowell has one game to play and 13 tackles behind Atkins.

Cats Defensive Stats

Transition & Midfield

Atkins defensive game was strong, but his offensive talent rose to a new level in 2025 as he led the Cats for clearances (127 - 19th in AFL) and launched the 12th most scores in the competition with 59.

However, it was a new combination of midfielders that proved to be the most damaging, with the duo of Bailey Smith and Max Holmes wreaking havoc against opposition midfields. The pair finished 8th and 16th (633, 616) for disposals and 6th and 3rd (131, 140) for inside 50’s respectively.

Smith’s ability to win the ball at stoppages was evident (57 centre clearances, 10th in AFL), while Holmes ability to run, collect and carry helped break games open for the Cats (second in AFL for bounces with 66, seventh in AFL with 194 ground ball gets).

In what was a dynamic on-ball division this season, the starting midfielders were well supported by Gryan Miers and Shaun Mannagh who were able to spend time through the middle and impact forward of the ball.

Mannagh’s 70 total clearances for the season ranked fourth at the Cats, while Miers’ 223 effective kicks for the season resulted in 73 inside 50s (fourth at Geelong)

Rhys Stanley recorded his second highest hit out tally at the Cats since 2019 with 460, and was also well supported through the year by Mark Blicavs who finished with 53 clearances (fifth at Geelong), 173 contested possessions (fourth) and 50 score launches (16th in the AFL).

Inside Forward 50

The Cats boasted the highest scoring attack of the final eight teams with 2425 points scored for the year (105.4 per game), of course led by Jeremy Cameron who had a stunning year kicking 83 goals. 

Cameron also recorded the most Marks Inside 50 in the AFL with 74, sitting third for marks on the lead with 40 and had an incredible 181 score involvements (third in AFL). With his 14 goal assists, Cameron directly contributed to 97 goals which equates to 27% of Geelong’s 356 goals this year.

It was a breakout year for young Cat Shannon Neale who kicked 41 goals for the season (15th in the AFL). Neale was able to dominate the airways and clunked 32 contested marks (=10th in the AFL) as well as 55 marks inside 50 (eighth). Neale’s groundwork was also impressive with his 31 tackles inside 50 seeing him place sixth in the competition.

It was a joint effort in the scoring stakes despite the dominance from the big men, with six players (including Cameron and Neale) kicking over 20 goals.

Tyson Stengle kicked 31, Ollie Dempsey and Shaun Mannagh finished with 28 and Patrick Dangerfield booted 27 goals with all players impressing. Stengle’s pressure and presence was consistent throughout his campaign, finishing third in the competition for tackles inside-50 (36), seventh in the AFL for forward 50 ground ball gets (41) and fourth in the league for goal assists (23).

Shaun Mannagh was able to become another crucial link in Geelong’s midfield to forward transition. Mannagh’s 15 goal assists balanced perfectly with his own 28 goal season, and he ranked fourth in the competition for tackles inside-50 (34) and 17th in the comp for inside 50’s (106).

It was a much discussed move forward for Geelong Captain Patrick Dangerfield and he did not disappoint. Dangerfield’s 27 goals was his highest tally since 2019 and he had the second most goal assists in the AFL with 27, combining for 54 direct goals contributed. Dangerfield showed he is still quite agile, recording the fifth most forward 50 ground ball gets in the comp with 46.

The forward line was assisted all season by Brad Close (third in AFL for Goal Assists with 26), Gryan Miers (25th in AFL for score involvements with 146), Jack Bowes 14 goals (career high) and Mark Blicavs who ranked in the top 10 for score involvements at Geelong, showing again his value in all areas of the ground.