Geelong’s first-gamer Shane Kersten was still able to impress the Cats leading goal kicker, Tom Hawkins, despite a disappointing end to Saturday night's clash at Metricon Stadium.

With a three-goal and seven-mark performance, Hawkins says Kersten has already shown he has the faculties that are required on an AFL stage.

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“Shane was great, he’s an exciting player for the footy club and he’s one of those kids that will play better footy when he’s playing against a higher standard,” Hawkins told Cats TV.

“He’s smart, leans forward, kicks the ball well and he does some nice little things in defense and puts the pressure on.

“I saw a nice little tap from him tonight to the advantage of one of our players.”

This Friday against Essendon, Hawkins says if the Cats revert back to playing consistent footy they’ll be a harder team to shatter.

“We have played really good footy together we just need to find that consistency and as soon as we do we’re going to play good footy and beat sides,” Hawkins said.

With another difficult fight ahead, Hawkins says the Cats will have to prepare for a four-quarter effort against the Bombers this Friday night.

“It’s going to be a tough game against Essendon, who are playing some pretty good footy under some tough circumstances we are going to need to be a lot better than we were (Saturday night),” Hawkins said.

Although it will be another hard contest, Hawkins says the Cats have no excuses to flounder in the last half of the game.

“We’ve got a six-day break, but that’s no excuse, we are used to them now, we’ve had a couple.”

“We’re just going to have to rest up and recover and prepare for an important week on the track and hopefully we can play a little bit more consistently.”

Geelong and Essendon will come head-to-head on Friday night at 7:50pm for Round 15 at Etihad Stadium.