GEELONG coach Chris Scott praised the effort of veteran midfielder Jimmy Bartel after his team motored home to beat Gold Coast at Simonds Stadium on Saturday night.

Bartel was one of the driving forces as the Cats overcame a 12-point deficit in the third quarter by kicking 11 of the last 12 goals of the game.

"He was good, especially early in that last quarter," Scott said after the 52-point victory.

"I said to him post-game, 'I had hoped that you would stand up when the game was really on.'

"But I should know by now that he will just do it."

Bartel roamed all over the ground all night as he put together a best-on-ground performance that featured 30 possessions and three goals.

"In some ways we make it hard for Jimmy, because we don't just play him onball, in his best position, for 100 per cent of the game," Scott said.

"But that's because he can help the team in so many different ways. He played back at times, he played onball, he played forward.

"He's a really flexible Geelong player. We love him."

Scott was relieved that his team was able to dig deep and record its ninth win of the season after being challenged so strongly by the Suns.

"We know that they can run, they can use the ball, they can attack," he said.

"But their pressure around the ball and their tackling was a highlight, I thought.

"So at three-quarter (time) the game was really on, and it was a really big occasion for us, on a night when we thought it was important to play well.

"We hadn't to that point, but the reason I'm in a good mood now is that quarter was fantastic." 

Geelong should make it 10 wins from 11 games this year when it takes on Greater Western Sydney at Skoda Stadium next Saturday afternoon.

Although tall forward Mitch Brown was subbed out of the game against Gold Coast after struggle to make an impact up forward, he is likely line up against the Giants.

"Mitch Brown was probably the unfortunate member of our 22 this game in that we went in a little bit too tall," Scott said. "But there was method to our madness there.

"Mitch will play against next week. He was just subbed out because the game wasn't suited to big tall forwards."

Adam McNicol covers Geelong news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol