Returning Cat Paul Chapman skipped straight back to form with four goals while David Hale was the Kangaroos' star with eight goals in their 17.13 (115) to 13.4 (82) loss.
Cameron Mooney also booted four for the winners while the Joels – Corey and Selwood – were again outstanding as was reigning Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel. Corey and Bartel each had nearly 40 possessions while Gary Ablett was also in fine form.
The Cats did the damage in a barnstorming second quarter when they slammed on seven goals to two to go to the long break with a 26-point buffer.
But in the opening term it was the Roos who looked to have the answers and they led by a goal at the first change.
In the early running, the Kangaroos successfully plugged up the Cats forward half and found a winner in their own forward line in Hale who booted five goals for the opening half.
Hale got three free kicks close to goal as well as taking a couple of superb pack marks which resulted in goals.
His height was a definite worry for the Cats and he proved too much for rookie Harry Taylor and Andrew Mackie to handle with regular fullback Matthew Scarlett left to other match ups.
The Kangaroos' first-term effort was all the better considering their No 1 midfielder Brent Harvey was well held by Geelong's all Australian onballer Cameron Ling.
But the Roos were able to find other winners through the middle to ensure the Cats had to fight for every possession.
However, the entire complexion of the match changed drastically in the second term as the premiers flexed their muscle.
From then on, the dangerous Drew Petrie was forced to play too much of a defensive role to counter the numerous Cat attacks.
Petrie plonked himself in front of Cam Mooney and successfully repelled many attacks in conjunction with Shannon Watt. But the ball just kept coming back.
North did very well to hold on then grab the last few goals of the term and keep the three-quarter time margin to just 30 points despite the Cats having 10 more scoring shots.
Geelong had the majority of the play in their forward line but could only manage to win the quarter 3.4 to 3.0. That left the door ajar for the Roos to make a final term charge.
Hale got the opening goal of the last quarter to get North within four goals but the Cats steadied and won going away.
Both sides made two changes before the bounce with the Cats bringing in Brent Prismall and Travis Varcoe for James Kelly and Matthew Stokes while the Roos replaced Nathan Thompson and Matt Campbell with Jess Sinclair and Scott Thompson.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs.
MATCH DETAILS
Geelong 3.3 10.6 13.10 17.13 (115)
North Melbourne 4.3 6.4 9.4 13.4 (82)
GOALS
Geelong: Chapman 4 Mooney 4 Ottens 3 Johnson 2 Ling 2 Lonergan Rooke
North Melbourne: Hale 8 Thomas 2 Harris Jones McIntosh
BEST
Geelong: Bartel Ling Corey Mooney Ottens Chapman Ablett
North Melbourne: Hale Pratt Wells Firrito
INJURIES
Geelong: Stokes (general soreness) replaced in selected side by Varcoe. Kelly (general soreness) replaced in selected side by Prismall.
North Melbourne: Nathan Thompson (ankle) replaced in selected side by Scott Thompson. Campbell (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Sinclair.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: James, M Nicholls, McInerney
Official crowd: 24,288 at Skilled Stadium
