It became a familiar sight for Cats fans over an extended period of time, watching Mitch Duncan and Gary Ablett Junior tear apart games and steer their side to victory.
Typically the Gold Coast has proven to be a hard place to travel and to come home with the four points, particularly carrying a little bit more weight for Ablett at a venue where he spent seven years of his career.
If the pressure of a mid-season road trip was not enough, the Cats were also perched atop the AFL ladder through nine weeks of the season, looking to pull away from the chasing pack and strengthen their grip on a top two position.
But as they would discover in their Round 10 clash in the thick humidity at People First Stadium, the Suns were well and truly up for the fight and Geelong needed every weapon at their disposal to secure the victory.
The opening quarter proved to be the start of a see-sawing affair, Geelong got off to a bright start through Mitch Duncan and Tom Atkins, but Gold Coast snatched the lead back with three quick goals to put the pressure on the Cats early.
Duncan hit the scoreboard for a second time prior to quarter time, before Ablett produced some trademark magic on his left foot to level scores heading into the first break.
Tom Hawkins wasted no time getting involved early in the second term, the big Cat bookending the quarter for his team with another goal minutes before half time, but scoring proved difficult otherwise and Geelong's lead remained at just three points at the main break.
Future-Cat Jack Bowes opened proceedings in the second half to put Gold Coast back in front, before Ablett answered with his second classy finish of the night which provoked a big fist pump from the Little Master.
But as had been the trend all the night, the two teams continued to trade blows and the lead changed hands four times in the third quarter alone, the Cats inching their noses in front and taking a narrow two point lead into the final change.
With everything to play for in the last quarter, Geelong flexed their muscle and capitalised in some big moments to solidify their grip on the game.
The 'Tomahawk' chipped in early with his third goal of the night, before taking a rare intercept mark inside 50 to set up his fourth major, proving to give the Cats a decisive break midway through the quarter.
Duncan slammed through his third goal of the night with time ticking down, before James Parsons put the cherry on top as a four goal to none final term powered Geelong to a 27 point victory.
There were plenty of standout performances on the night, but maybe none were more important than Mitch Duncan who accumulated 27 disposals and seven intercept possessions to go with his three goals.
Hawkins (four goals, six contested marks) and Tim Kelly (35 disposals, 10 score involvements) were heavily influential, while Ablett (20 disposals, two goals, eight score involvements) was at his brilliant best and played a pivotal role in the forward half.
The victory formed part of an electric run for the Cats in 2019, winning 11 of their first 12 matches leading into their mid-season bye.
2019 Round 10 – Gold Coast v Geelong @ People First Stadium
GOLD COAST 4.3 6.5 9.8 9.10 (64)
GEELONG CATS 4.3 6.8 9.10 13.13 (91)
GOALS: Hawkins 4, Duncan 3, Parsons, Ablett 2, Atkins, Clark 1
DISPOSALS: Kelly 35, Duncan 27, Selwood 22, Guthrie, Stewart 21
BROWNLOW VOTES: Tim Kelly (3), David Swallow (2), Mitch Duncan (1)
CROWD: 13,144 @ People First Stadium
GEELONG STARTING 22
1. Rhys Stanley
2. Zach Tuohy
3. Brandan Parfitt
4. Gary Ablett
6. Jordan Clark
7. Harry Taylor
8. Jake Kolodjashnij
11. Tim Kelly
14. Joel Selwood
22. Mitch Duncan
23. Gary Rohan
26. Tom Hawkins
28. Darcy Fort
29. Cameron Guthrie
30. Tom Atkins
32. Gryan Miers
34. James Parsons
38. Jack Henry
40. Luke Dahlhaus
42. Mark O'Connor
44. Tom Stewart
46. Mark Blicavs
