It was only a matter of time before Tom Stewart stamped his authority in 2025. 

An interrupted start to the season saw Geelong's defensive general miss five games, but since returning in Round 11 he has not missed a beat, putting together another rock solid performance against Essendon on Saturday. 

Stewart finished with an equal career-high 16 marks against the Bombers, four of those intercept grabs while collecting seven intercept possessions, the third consecutive week he has picked off seven intercepts or more. 

Not wasting a disposal either, the star Cat went at an incredible 96% disposal efficiency with his 23 possessions, setting up plenty of Geelong's attacking forays from the half back line. 

Following the comfortable victory on Saturday, Stewart told Cats Media that he has been able to build his body up and is ready to attack the back half of the season. 

"It is going to be a slow build," Stewart told Cats Media. 

"It was a pretty interrupted start to the season, which was pretty unusual for myself. I have had injuries over the journey but once I got back in, it hasn't been as disjointed.

"Playing five of the first 11 or 12 games isn't something that I wanted in my preparation, but it allowed me to go back to the basics of the game and get my body right for the business end of the season.

"Having a fantastic support staff and physio staff has been really good for me, they have built my body back to a really good place and I am just confident going forward that I can help wherever I can."

Stewart's Last Four Games

Stewart's strong outings have been part of a solid rise from Geelong's defensive unit, which is starting to hit top form through the middle portion of the season. 

With the Cats currently on a five game win streak, the backline has held their last three opponents to scores of 73, 37 and 56, helping Geelong to ascend all the way to second spot on the ladder. 

It creates a nice balance for the Cats who have also been one of the best teams offensively this year, averaging 102 points per game which is the second highest average of any team in the AFL. 

Finding more consistency and continuity in recent weeks, Stewart said that Geelong's defence is starting to find form at the right time of year with another big challenge awaiting next week. 

"I think it has been a really good balance of continuity with players behind the ball," Stewart said. 

"Myself, Jack Henry and some others have missed time so just to have a really solid back seven or eight players now is really good for our confidence. Just learning the nuances of the way that we play and how each other operates.

"I think the most pleasing thing is the flexibility as well, having De Koning get subbed out tonight and Blicavs does what he does, going behind the ball and plays extremely well.

"We are trending in the right direction and we have got some really important games coming up."