THE KENNETT curse is a myth but Geelong's 10-point win over Hawthorn on Saturday night proves the Cats are among the league's heavyweights in 2013, says coach Chris Scott.

When asked if his side had a mental hold over Hawthorn, the Cats' coach was blunt in response.

"Nope," he answered.

But he was far more expansive in discussing the Cats' stirring win, in which they withstood a final-quarter barrage that cut a 33-point margin to just three, before steadying to record an 11th straight win over their fierce rivals.

Geelong has now beaten five of the seven other teams in the top eight, including Hawthorn (twice), the Sydney Swans, Fremantle, Essendon and Richmond to keep pace with the Hawks at the top of the ladder.

"We've played our best games against the best teams this year, which is a good sign," Scott said.

"It shows us, in slippery conditions like tonight, we can mix it with good teams."

Scott said the Cats had a clear focus on tightening up their defensive pressure and it showed, with Geelong laying 79 tackles to Hawthorn's 65.

"We needed to fix those things and fix them permanently," Scott said.

"It's good to see the last two weeks we've been better in that area. It wasn't perfect the whole night, by any stretch, but it was that sort of game that there were always going to be mistakes made by everyone."

Geelong midfielder James Kelly was crucial in the hardness stakes against the Hawks, finishing with 23 disposals and six tackles.
"He's (Kelly) been below his best the last couple of weeks, to be frank," Scott said.

"But he's the type of player and person who responds to those situations and that's what we're trying to develop at Geelong."

Three-time premiership midfielder Joel Corey was walking around the rooms after being concussed in the final term, with Scott saying the club would monitor him over the next couple of days.

Cats ruckman Nathan Vardy sustained a similar injury in the VFL earlier on Saturday and Scott said the Cats would treat his case accordingly.

Scott also made a surprising assessment of Hawthorn star midfielder Sam Mitchell's game.

"I thought he had a reasonable night, but not much better than that," Scott said.

Mitchell finished with 37 disposals. Many observers believed he was clearly Hawthorn's best player.

Ben Guthrie is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_BenGuthrie