The North Melbourne ruckman had been outstanding against Geelong all game on Friday night, his dominance over the Cats' undermanned ruck division having helped the Roos take what seemed like a match-winning 32-point lead at the 14-minute mark of the final term.

But, as great teams do, the Cats came back.

Sparked by three goals from Tom Hawkins in a six-minute burst, the Cats closed to within six points when Jimmy Bartel marked close to goal at the 27-minute mark and converted from an acute angle.

The Roos tried frantically to hold on from there, with Goldstein a bullocking presence at the stoppages, following his ruck work with some heavy tackling.

But after North captain Andrew Swallow was pinged for deliberate out of bounds with 32 seconds remaining on the clock, Andrew Mackie pumped the Cats deep inside their forward 50.

A Cats mark and goal would have sent the game into extra time.

But Goldstein was having none of that.

Flying in front of a pack of four players, the big Roo clunked a one-grab overhead mark.

He subsequently found Jack Ziebell with a short pass and, despite a few more heart palpitations, North hung on.

North coach Brad Scott said after the game he had been encouraging Goldstein to fly for more marks. Understandably, he was pleased with his ruckman's response.

"He took some strong ones today, but none more important than that one late in the game," Scott said.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said Mark Blicavs and Josh Walker had carried the Cats' ruck division well in the absence of injured pair Hamish McIntosh and Dawson Simpson.

But the Cats coach acknowledged Goldstein's outstanding performance for the Roos.

"He was a pretty important player for them, there's no escaping that," Chris Scott said.

Despite the strong claims of teammate Nick Dal Santo (35 possessions) and Cats spearhead Hawkins (5.3), Goldstein was best on ground on Friday night.

He finished with 54 of the Roos' 55 hit-outs – Dal Santo had the other – completely outstripping the Cats' total of 31.

He also had 15 disposals, five tackles, five clearances, three inside 50s and kicked 1.1.

But, no doubt, Scott was most pleased by Goldstein's three contested marks.

And North fans are unlikely to ever forget that final game-saving one.