It took nearly all four quarters to separate the two teams on Thursday night, but it was Geelong's intent and pressure that played a decisive role in a tense and frantic final term. 

The Cats recorded 19 inside 50 entries in the fourth quarter to Adelaide's nine, but they were also able to lock the ball inside their forward arc and apply consistent heat onto the Crows' defensive unit. 

As a team, Geelong finished the night with a whopping 25 tackles inside 50, their second highest total in a single match since the start of the 2023 AFL season. 

To put the enormity of the effort into context, the Cats finished first in the AFL for tackles inside 50 last year with an average of 14.1 per game and they only recorded more than 25 tackles inside 50 in one game, which occurred in Round 13 against the Gold Coast Suns. 

It was a clear directive that the playing group executed to perfection, with Cats coach Chris Scott providing some insight into the weather-adapted style in his post game press conference. 

"The way I would probably think about it is, who would you rather be?" Scott responded when quizzed on Geelong's game plan. 

"I think I would still rather be the team with the ball up their end, in congestion rather than the one trying to counter attack all the time.

"There is no doubt that it wears on a team on a night like that, so later in the game it can be difficult when you do get your chances, to have the run to really hurt the opposition.

"For the second game in a row, at least to the naked eye it looked that we were really running well towards the end of the game. It is easy to say that when the scoreboard goes your way, but I thought it felt like we had some guys that were covering the ground well."

Numerous players got heavily involved in the pressure packed performance, led by Gryan Miers who laid a game-high five tackles inside 50 on Thursday night. 

Jack Martin and Shaun Mannagh both laid three tackles inside 50, as did Jhye Clark who impressed once again in his new role across half forward. 

Another that applied elite pressure throughout the contest was Oli Wiltshire, who was able to utilise his elite speed and agility to keep Adelaide's rebounding defenders accountable. 

Speaking with Cats Media after the game, Wiltshire said the Cats' pressure was key in their dominant fourth quarter performance.  

"That last quarter was a bit of a fight, but we were able to keep it in our forward 50 which was what we were after," Wiltshire said. 

"Repeat stoppages led to three goals in the last quarter, but just being able to keep it in there and not let them rebound out of our forward 50.

"It is a bit more scrappy when it is wet weather, it is just about putting your head over the footy. It is a bit of a territory battle when it is wet."