ONE of the biggest improvers of the season, Geelong propelled itself into the finals race after a near unstoppable campaign. 

The recruitment of key players, combined with increased chemistry across the existing list, made Dan Lowther's side one of the teams to beat right across the season. 

womens.afl is looking at each of the 18 AFLW teams' seasons in reverse ladder order.

Head coach: Daniel Lowther 

Leadership group: Meghan McDonald (captain), Nina Morrison (vice-captain), Julia Crockett-Grills, Chantel Emonson, Georgie Rankin, Becky Webster 

Ladder position after home & away season: 5th, seven wins and three losses, 173% 

Ladder position after finals: 7th, seven wins and four losses, 167.2% 

Debutants: Melissa Bragg, Brooke Plummer, Kalani Scoullar, Mia Skinner (AFLW debut), Mikayla Bowen, Jackie Parry, Shelley Scott (club debut) 

Milestones: Shelley Scott (50 games), Kate Darby, Darcy Moloney, Nina Morrison, Jackie Parry, Georgia Rankin (25 games) 

Rising Star nominations: Nil

Retirements: TBC 

Best team performance 

Coming off the biggest win in club history – at the time – the Cats went to Ballarat to face the Western Bulldogs in round six. Without star midfielder Georgie Prespakis, facing the Dogs' onball contingent was going to be a significant challenge, but Geelong was up to the task.

It was an all-hands-on-deck performance from the Cats, with various players stepping up at different key moments through the game, and former No.1 draft pick Nina Morrison was the clear best on ground with 21 disposals, 10 tackles and eight clearances.

With the Cats ahead by 13 points at the final break, the Dogs surged home in the last quarter, but it was Geelong's nerve to withstand that surge that proved its character. While other wins throughout the season were by larger margins or were more dominant, it was against the Bulldogs where Geelong stamped its brand. 

Best individual performance 

In just her second season, almost any of Georgie Prespakis' performances could have been selected, but it was her round four match against North Melbourne that stood tallest.  

Prespakis won six clearances and 32 disposals, importantly using the ball at 81.3 per cent efficiency – the third-highest efficiency of any player to win 30 or more disposals. That elite disposal was used to drive the ball forward, registering six inside 50s and 464 metres gained. 

But it wasn't solely an attacking game from the teenager, who also laid nine tackles and won 10 intercepts to assist in defence. 

Most improved 

Last season Claudia Gunjaca played just four games, struggling to maintain her spot in the forward line, but this time around it was a positional change that really saw her find her feet at AFLW level. 

With no Maddy McMahon in defence, and the addition of both Jackie Parry and Shelley Scott from Melbourne, Gunjaca reinvented herself as a lockdown key defender to great effect, playing all 11 games in the third-best defensive team in the competition. 

Her role was not only key in quelling dangerous opposition forwards, but also added a reliability deep in defence that allowed teammates like Chantel Emonson and Annabel Johnson to play aggressive, rebounding roles. 

Star recruit 

Bringing experience and discipline to the side, Shelley Scott's arrival at Geelong was relatively unheralded before the season began, but ultimately proved to be a game changer. 

Used cleverly down back early in the season, it was her move into attack in round five that made her impact more apparent. Kicking nine goals over a six-game period in the latter half of the season, it wasn't just what Scott herself did with the ball, but what she allowed teammates to do. 

Her presence in attack stretched opposition defences thin, needing to account for the aerial danger she, Chloe Scheer and Jackie Parry threatened, while also proving dangerous when the ball hit the ground. 

Unsung hero 

Another new face at the Cats this season, Mikayla Bowen's incredibly disciplined work out on the wing all season was significant. 

Her willingness to sit outside the contest to offer an outlet to the strong onball group made that midfield contingent exponentially better, complementing Nina Morrison's role on the opposing wing. It is a sacrificial role, but one of the most important ones, and if done well can help a side go from being good to great. 

Clean ball movement into attack was a key part of Geelong's improvement this season, and that was aided greatly by Bowen's run on the outside. 

What went well 

Having the willingness to make a shift midway through the season to find a more damaging method of attack was key to Geelong's push to finals. Between rounds one and four, the Cats averaged 17.3 points for, but this shot up to 47 points per game from round five onwards. All of this came from cleaner, more considered ball use. The Cats averaged a disposal efficiency of 65.6 per cent, the highest in the competition. 

This scoring power was important, but even more so was the way they balanced their newfound attack with what they had always been good at: defence. That defence was then able to be executed higher up the ground, conceding an average of 24.9 inside 50s and 21.6 points per game, both the lowest counts in club history. 

Above all, Geelong was a more cohesive team than it ever has been, with stars on each line, but an impressive array of role players gluing it all together. 

What needs improvement 

Bringing the strong, two-way game the Cats established against lower-ranked sides against their fellow finalists proved to be a challenge.  

Geelong's record against non-finalists was exceptional, with five straight wins and a percentage of 271.5, but when it came to better teams it often faltered. It won just two games from six starts against the eventual top eight, and recorded a percentage of just 89 in those games. 

Much of this is about standing up to the pressure better sides apply, but more significantly it is about breaking through sophisticated defensive structures that those sides bring. Finding a way to navigate that is the next phase of Geelong's attacking development.

Off-season focus 

Working to become more confident in that attacking ball movement is key during the off-season, bringing that confidence no matter who the opponent is. 

Some more depth in that outside running role also wouldn't go astray, after Bowen and Morrison proved just how valuable those positions are this season. Adding another hard-running, elite ball user will offer coach Dan Lowther some more flexibility in how to use Morrison, who has shown just how good she can be on any line.