GEELONG came within two kicks of making the 2004 AFL grand final.

Had it not been for one of the Australian football’s greatest-ever teams – albeit on its downward curve – they may well have progressed a week further.

And who knows what might have happened had they progressed to a ‘home’ season-decider against Port Adelaide?

Ultimately, however, a lack of firepower in its preliminary final against the Brisbane Lions cost Geelong, and following the defeat, the Cats knew they had to do something about it.

While Mark Thompson’s forward line that night featured the likes of Steve Johnson and Paul Chapman, the brains trust at Kardinia Park probably had a hunch they would never seriously threaten when comparing their attacking half to the best in the competition.

A look down the other end that night made that fact painfully obvious, with Jonathan Brown and Alastair Lynch lurking ominously all evening.

While the pair didn’t destroy the Cats, their presence as much as anything played a role in Geelong’s downfall as the younger, less experienced team perhaps didn’t believe they could match the side gunning for its fourth straight flag.

The Cats made it their mission to find their own forward presence, and hopefully one that would kick them bagfuls of goals.

So when Richmond’s Brad Ottens became available during trade period at the end of the 2004 season, not surprisingly, Geelong went hard.

Therefore it's somewhat ironic that almost four years on, the premiership mountain now conquered and with goals no longer a concern, Ottens is not the star attraction of that forward structure.

This weekend against North Melbourne, the big Cat will play his 200th AFL match – and his 71st in the blue and white hoops.

He is now an imposing force in the ruck, the most dominant of his displays in a Geelong jumper coming in last year’s preliminary final when he ensured his club would go one step further than they had three years earlier.

On that night, he used his sheer size to out-muscle two Collingwood opponents and pave the way for a thrilling Cats victory that preceded their premiership success.

While Geelong recruiting manager Stephen Wells said the club had originally “liked Brad as a forward and a ruckman”, there is no disputing that at the time of his trade to the club coach Mark Thompson was in need of goals.

“In the end when we sat around the table with the coach and the footy manager and the recruiting team it became obvious that we would have very few opportunities to recruit someone like Brad,” Wells said this week.

In years gone by Geelong had been blessed with stars – and even out-of-this-world forwards.

Gary Ablett, Billy Brownless, Barry Stoneham and Bruce Lindner provided some memorable highlights during their careers at Geelong.

But when they cleaned out their lockers, kicking goals became a whole lot tougher for the Cats.

Ottens was brought in, initially spending much of his time in attack, and many Cats fans and the media thought he would be the saviour.

When he arrived and the goals didn’t flow from his boot as many had been expecting, the critics stirred, and Ottens was only too aware.

“I think obviously when anyone changes clubs there’s a certain amount of expectation that goes with it,” the 28-year-old said.

“We’re all expected to perform to a certain level regardless, but I think when you change clubs, there probably is a little bit of extra expectation.

“That was probably the hardest thing to deal with, to deal with that expectation and to live up to it.”

Now, life couldn’t be better for Ottens or the Cats.

The club sits atop the ladder as the reigning premier, while the former Tiger – who looks back with fondness at his time at Punt Road – is among the competition’s premier big men.

A foot injury delayed his start to the 2008 season, forcing him to miss the first nine matches – including his team’s only loss this season to Collingwood – but he is now back to his best and says he is enjoying his footy more than ever.

The question is, approaching 30 and with 200 games already under the belt, how much longer can a 202cm, 108kg colossus keep pushing his body to the limit?

“I guess you probably think about it more and more as you get older, I suppose,” Ottens said.

“I’m sort of feeling pretty good. Apart from the foot injury early in the year it’s probably been the best that my body’s felt for a long time.

“Last year I hardly missed any games … hopefully there’s a bit more left to come yet.”