AS UNATTRACTIVE as his new ‘comb-over’ may be, it was great to see Geelong star Matthew Scarlett’s impersonation of Kevin Bartlett on the back-page of yesterday’s newspaper.

Unfortunately it’s too late for season 2008, but at last the Cats were showing personality and having fun.

Without overreacting to Saturday’s loss, I keep thinking of the extraordinary focus the team showed in their attempts to go back-to-back, and the pressure that must have built.

They played wonderful attacking football and there were occasional signs of emotion on the field during the season, but by the time they had reached the rooms this had usually made way for a steely intensity and team focus.

Maybe it was just a case of keeping the public statements restrained, but I felt it was a genuine mantra as part of the playing group and club’s desperation not to get ahead of itself. 

The club did everything to be humble in victory as the wins mounted, and chief executive Brian Cook cleared his desk of many other issues in the countdown to September to look out for any signs of arrogance.

It’s hard to be too critical of this approach because it helped produce one of the most dominant home-and-away seasons of all time.

But when it mattered most, the side did not handle the pressure well. While they deserved to win against the Bulldogs, the Cats were a long way from their best and had a few crucial things go their way.  

Then came grand final day and there is no getting away from the selfish acts as the usual sharing at all costs philosophy went out the window when the goals beckoned.

On reflection there may have been some warning signs even in the win against St Kilda where the players put the cue in the rack in the final quarter. This was not the merciless Geelong approach we had seen all year.

Even now the players must be in a serious state of shock.

The shock is not that the Hawks won, but that everything possible fell to the Cats advantage (injuries, umpires, star Hawthorn players with little influence) and yet they still lost comfortably against the effective counter-attacking strategy of the opposition.

How they respond will be fascinating, both internally and externally.

Among the despair Brian Cook must have said a silent prayer of thanks that his main star players have already agreed to long-term contracts.

I’m not suggesting they would want out, but it’s a lot easier to convince players to take a pay-cut when a dynasty is on the cards.

The dynasty now looks a lot more likely at Hawthorn which appears to be a super-sized version of St Kilda circa 2004. A list fall of talented high draft picks and cleverly identified rookies, it is scary to look at the age of Hawthorn’s grand final team. Only Shane Crawford, Trent Croad, Robert Campbell, Brent Guerra, Chance Bateman and Stuart Dew are over 25.

Of course nothing is certain in football but the club is in sensational shape on and off the field.

From the administration to the players they have handled the victory magnificently. Who would have thought a club lead by Jeff Kennett could be so humble?

There are still many issues running through every Geelong supporters’ head and most of us will probably get around to watching a replay soon to re-live the agony. I’m sure the side will be determined to be right up there again next year – I just hope they try to enjoy the ride. 

Congratulations to the Hawks, but for mine it’s cricket season, and has been since about a quarter to five on Saturday.