On-field, the Cats were harassed and pressured and harried into submission by the relentless Hawks, who eventually ran out more comfortable winners than the 26-point margin would indicate.
The Cats broke a 44-year drought when they won last year, and a stellar 2008 – with just one loss early in the year – had them overwhelming favourites in the lead up to the game.
Geelong has been festooned in blue and white throughout the finals series, but Scarlett said breaking through last year meant less pressure from the fans, rather than more.
"No, there was a lot more last year, I think," he said. "Pressure from the Geelong town, and all our supporters.
"The boys felt a lot more pressure last year.
"That was very tough to swallow - we've had a fantastic year, but just couldn't get the job done today, and we were beaten by a better side."
The Cats were superb in their defensive zones, and split the midfield battle, but once the ball ventured into the forward 50 it was as if it had disappeared into a giant top-loading washing machine, such was the lack of structure and direction of the forward setup.
Scarlett admitted that the lack of return for hard work further down the field was frustrating.
"For sure – we were doing a lot of good work, we just weren't getting the reward for it, so it does hurt a little bit.
"It definitely hurts – we came in at half time, and I don't know what the score was, but we could have been a couple of goals up.
"Whether that impacted the end result, I'm not sure, but it does hurt when you keep kicking points."
The 29-year-old said the side was determined to come back better and stronger than ever.
"Mate, it hurts more than anything, you know? But we've just got to stick together and come back to training and be a better side, because clearly we weren't good enough.
"It's going to be a long summer."
