Geelong ratcheted up the pressure on Thursday night right across the ground, but it was their effort and intensity inside forward 50 that proved to be a telling factor in their victory over St Kilda.
Able to lock down the Saints' rebounders and force them into quicker decisions when exiting defence, the Cats restricted their opponent to their lowest Chain to Score total of the season, which looks at the proportion of all chains resulting in a score.
It forced St Kilda into 74 turnovers on the night, their highest total of the season, which Geelong then capitalised on and scored 10.8 (68) from turnovers, their fourth best score from that source in 2026.
A big factor in that space was the return of Brad Close, who finished with 20 pressure acts which was the third most of any Geelong player, also collecting a season-high 17 disposals and recording five score involvements.
It also included a sensational outing from Gryan Miers, who was able to help in the pressure game but then also impacted the contest offensively, having a direct hand in seven of Geelong's 15 goals.
"He [Miers] works really hard on his game," Scott said in his post-game press conference.
"There was a compounding effect of a few of those guys coming back into our forward half, like Brad Close. Mannagh was a bit sore tonight, so he wasn't quite able to have the impact that he normally would.
"But Close and Miers in particular with their running power.
"Even late last week when we effectively couldn't rotate that well, that is when you are searching for guys like Miers and Close who can just go, and go, and go.
"They seem to get better when there is more fatigue on the game, that came through again tonight."
Miers and Close were among seven inclusions for Geelong heading into Thursday night's clash, with the pair spearheading a number of strong performances that helped steer the Cats back onto the winner's list.
Jay Polkinghorne impressed in his AFL debut, kicking two goals and recording seven score involvements, while also taking a game-high six marks inside 50 to constantly test Saints defender Callum Wilkie.
Another player that returned was Jhye Clark, who picked off a game-high 12 intercept possessions and collected a career-high 25 disposals, consistently throwing himself into the contest and further adding to Geelong's elite pressure game.
James Worpel also pieced together a terrific outing in his first AFL game since Round 9, collecting 24 disposals which was his highest tally since joining Geelong, while also adding seven clearances and six tackles in a well-rounded display.
Cats coach Chris Scott credited the inclusions for coming and doing their roles in his post-game press conference on Thursday night.
"The thing that probably was different was that we brought in some different players, that gave us a bit of a different look," Scott said.
"Those guys have been performing at VFL level. I didn't even do the numbers on it, when I heard that we made seven changes it was like, well it sounds like a lot but all of them were really rational and easy to explain. You put them together and it looks like a big number, but there were the obvious ones.
"Cameron going out, we needed to replace him and Polkinghorne was very obvious given the form he was in. Jhye Clark has been in super form at VFL level.
"We felt for a while that we have had a decent group of guys at VFL level who just look like AFL players, playing in the VFL. At some point, we needed to find a way to get them in and it felt like this was the week, and they all came in and performed."
