THOUGH he searched for consolation in his team's gallant performance, Trent Croad found it hard to get past Hawthorn's chance to knock off reigning premier Geelong.
The third-placed Hawks challenged the Cats throughout an entertaining clash on Friday night, only to fall 11 points short.
"To be honest I’m a shattered man," Croad said after the game.
"But the best thing for our young group [is] they (the Cats) are three or four years ahead of us.
"We've shortened the time and it's a real strong reminder of where we are at, against the best in the AFL. We had many chances to win that game, and we are not too far away which is great for our young kids."
For Croad, the near-capacity crowd evoked memories of when the Hawks made it to a preliminary final at the MCG.
"To play in front of almost 90,000 people – I haven’t had that opportunity since 2001 (finals) so those chances don’t come around too often," he said.
And Croad believes it was Geelong's edge in experience that produced the result.
"I hate saying the ‘younger group’, but the reality is that we haven’t had many players that have been in that environment before and maybe that was a contributor to some errors," he said.
"But at the end of the day, skill errors happen, they made some and we made some, but their experience got them over the line."
He said that use of defender Campbell Brown in attack was a fantastic move by Alastair Clarkson, and was also impressed with how the backline covered his absence.
"He’s very fast and evasive and is hard to match up on," Croad noted. "Not only can he kick some goals he did some great chase-downs. I was proud of him."
"It was fine [in defence without him]. Stephen Gilham and Tom Murphy were good. Tom Murphy has really emerged lately and I've been working closely with him.
"Tom and Stephen now can hold their own against some of the best players one-on-one. I thought one-on-one they were fantastic, which was what it was all about tonight."
It was the first time the teams had met in 15 months and, since round four last year, Geelong has gathered enormous momentum.
"Quite simply they are the best," Croad said. "They are well-drilled and they have got what it takes to win a premiership. For us it is fantastic to get a reminder of what level you have got to get to, to win one.
"We go away from this with some great experience and ideas.
"You see someone like Cyril Rioli who is 18 and playing against these guys in front of 90,000 people. These young kids under 21 can only get better from playing in front of these crowds.
"The new-age kids are ready to go. One, it’s a reminder of where they are at, two, what it takes to win a premiership, and three, being in an environment of 90,000 people on a Friday night."
