On a wet and wild night at the Cattery, there were moments of brilliance that shone through in Round 3 and received praise for steering Geelong to an important win. 

But a performance that perhaps did not receive its recognition it deseved was from Irishman Oisin Mullin, who symbolised the tough and tenacious showing from the Cats.

Spending most of the game lined up on Izak Rankine, Mullin held the Adelaide superstar to just seven disposals for the game, his lowest total since Round 5 of the 2022 season when he was still at the Gold Coast Suns. 

Rankine also only managed one goal for the night, with Mullin adding to his growing list of successful jobs which includes the likes of Zak Butters and Hugh McCluggage. 

Speaking on this week's episode of podcast 'To the Final Bell,' fellow Irishmen Mark O'Connor and Zach Tuohy touched on Mullin's role and his growth as a player over the past few years.

"He was terrific and I said it after the game, about just how we want to get the ball in his hands a bit more now," O'Connor said. 

"Because his speed is so good and he is just so hard to tackle, just because of his attributes.

"He is just growing every week and obviously that play at the end was pretty special, he was awesome."

Former Irish teammate, Zach Tuohy echoed the sentiment around Mullin's importance. 

"He has done that a few times now hasn't he, where he has properly shut down the opposition's best player," Tuohy said. 

"You have to remember, it was a low scoring filthy night and you are playing on a player who really should thrive in those conditions. In a low scoring game, one or two goals are going to separate the teams.

"So to see that job through right to the end of the game, it is not like the game blew out late and it didn't really matter. His development though, he is as good as any player in the league at that role."

Celebrating his 150th game with a victory, Mark O'Connor was influential on Thursday night collecting 17 disposals and four intercepts against the Crows. 

It marked back-to-back wins for the Cats and a strong bounce back after a disappointing Opening Round performance, setting up another blockbuster Easter Monday clash against Hawthorn in Round 4. 

O'Connor said it will be another good test for Geelong, as teams attempt to determine the pecking order early in the season. 

"It is probably a bit too early to tell," O'Connor said. 

"Some teams get a good run on the board early, then they taper off a bit. Every team probably goes through a spell of it, so it is probably a bit hard at the minute to decide who is going to be up there.

"We have seen some classy performances like Gold Coast that Opening Round, they were really strong and especially up there.

"We didn't show up much in the first five quarters of the season, but we will hopefully keep growing from here."