THIS time last year, Geelong's era was supposed to be over.

The man who had coached them to three grand finals had surprisingly announced he would leave the club, while the best player of their modern era was off to join the AFL's newest team.

Add to that a president who had served his term and there was a strong feeling that the departures of Mark Thompson, Gary Ablett and to a lesser extent Frank Costa were signs that the Cats were set for a decline.

It seems that those signs were agreed on by everyone but the inner sanctum.

Speaking after Saturday's premiership win - the third in five years - not one Geelong player said they had any doubt that they had at least one more premiership tilt left in them.

Harry Taylor was plying his trade in the WAFL when the Cats won the 2007 flag but he played crucial roles in the 2009 and 2011 wins.

He said he knew all along that the Cats could improve.

"A lot of people did write us off at the start of the year but we've internally thought that we still needed to improve," Taylor said.

"We just worked really hard over pre-season and the new coach brought a new energy to the group and really inspired a lot of the older guys as well as the younger guys. It's a great feeling."

Josh Hunt missed the 2009 premiership with a knee injury but was part of 2007. He said he never needed any convincing that the Cats could add to their trophy cabinet this year.

"Despite what everyone was saying with Gaz leaving and Bomber, on day one of pre-season we sat down and we knew we had the cattle to do this," he said.

"With Scotty coming in, it was a fresh voice and a lot of different ideas, but the proof is in the pudding now. We stuck by each other, we had a belief in ourselves and we knew the game plan we had and the players we had could get the job done. We ended up doing it, which is a great effort."

At 20, Allen Christensen was the second youngest Cats player. He sees the win as the start of a new era rather than the last flag of the old one.

"We've got such a great list and hopefully this is just a start for boys like me and Mitch Duncan," Christensen said.

"We'll get Menz back in the last half of next year and Vards will come back next year as well. Hopefully this is only the beginning, but I'm really looking forward to it."

Mathew Stokes said the change of coach may have looked like a setback but proved to be the spark that the club needed.

"I think that's what we needed - we needed something new and we needed somebody to test us and show us we can be better," he said.

"I think that's exactly what Chris has done."