GEELONG defender Matthew Scarlett believes he is in career-best form.

At a time when many are starting to rate Scarlett alongside former Carlton champion and Full Back of the Century Stephen Silvagni, the star Cat says he is at the peak of his powers.

“At the moment I reckon I’m playing as well as I ever have,” he wrote in Scarlett's Web, his weekly column for gfc.com.au.

“My body and my confidence levels are really good.

“I’m always pretty confident and the body’s feeling great at the moment.”

Scarlett, 28, said he thrived on the pressure of playing on the last line of defence.

“When you’re playing at full-back you’re always only a week away from disaster, and that’s a good thing, always being under pressure,” he said.

“I never allow myself to sit back and think I’m going that well because obviously there’s always a pretty good player just around the corner, waiting to pull my pants down, and make me look silly.”

After gathering 29 possessions in Geelong’s grand final demolition of Port Adelaide last year to be one of the top three on the ground, Scarlett seems to have taken his game up another notch this season.

He was Victoria’s best defender in its win over the Dream Team in Saturday night’s Hall of Fame Tribute Match, kick-starting the home team half-way through the opening term with some bold attack from the back half.

For Geelong, he has continued to keep the opposition’s best forwards out of the match each week while winning plenty of the ball, often setting up attacking thrusts for the Cats.

It is for this reason that Scarlett deserved to be ranked alongside the all-time greats, according to Shinboner of the Century, Glenn Archer.

“In my opinion, Scarlett is the most complete full-back I have ever seen and played against,” Archer wrote in Thursday’s Herald Sun.

“What makes him the best is he plays in a pro-active mode. It’s like he’s the full-forward. Have you noticed how many times he marks in front of his opponent?” the recently retired North Melbourne champ added.

Archer’s comments come just a few weeks after Geelong skipper Tom Harley declared his Cats teammate among the best players to have taken the field.

“He’s the best I’ve seen,” Harley said.

“I’m the wrong person to ask because I’ve got a pretty biased opinion, but I think he’s one of the greatest players ever, for sure.”

To read Matthew Scarlett’s full column, click here.