GEELONG has passed its toughest test on the run home with flying colours even as Jeremy Cameron's pursuit of a century hit a huge hurdle in a 43-point victory over Sydney at the SCG.

The Cats shook off a sluggish start after a charmed run of matches against sides near the bottom of the ladder, before outclassing the Swans to lock in a double chance with a 16.15 (111) to 10.8 (68) triumph on Sunday.

SWANS v CATS Full match coverage and stats

While Geelong fine-tuned for the pointy end of the season, Cameron's campaign to boot a century of goals hit a major stumbling block as the star spearhead was held goalless.

With Cameron unusually quiet, the Cats found other avenues to goal with emerging key forward Shannon Neale the first to step up as their focal point.

The 23-year-old helped to break the game open with a deadly right boot and four goals before the main break all coming from marks and challenging set shots.

The Cats were then able to turn to a spread of goalkickers with Tyson Stengle and Shaun Mannagh both booting three goals, while Jack Martin and Gryan Miers each finished with two.

Bailey Smith helped get the Cats going and the midfielder's tireless running was crucial to their ball movement with a game-high 30 disposals and 509m gained, while his side otherwise had an even spread of contributors.

The Swans made a scintillating start with the opening three goals of the game as their thrilling transitions sliced up the Cats through the midfield.

But the Cats soon got the game back on their own terms with calm and composed possession that gradually wore down the hosts.

Peter Ladhams grasped his opportunity to play first ruck in the absence of Brodie Grundy with 17 disposals and a game-high 10 clearances, as well as 35 hitouts.

The 204cm ruck-forward also reminded the Swans that he is more than capable near goal and finished with two majors to cap off a strong return to form.

Tom Papley was at his antagonising best while spending long periods playing through the midfield, although was back on familiar ground to boot two consolation goals.

Chad Warner and Errol Gulden (both 23 disposals) were also busy without having their usual impact, while Isaac Heeney was restricted by the close checking of Mark O'Connor.

Heeney finished with only 15 disposals and an early goal, and could even come under the attention of the Match Review Officer.

The Swan gun gave away a free kick when hitting O'Connor with a high blow during a tussle and later brought the Cats tagger to ground heavily in a tackle.

But even after the Swans largely put the cue in the rack in the final term and the Cats eased away to a comfortable victory, there was little intent from the visitors to help Cameron add to his goal tally in the dying stages, and he will enter round 24 on 79 goals for the season.

Red-hot Swan loses his cool
Isaac Heeney has been in red-hot form with three five-goal hauls in his past seven matches and looked set for another bag as he made a blazing start against Geelong. The Sydney star booted an early major and had his hand in another as he spent much of the game in the attacking half. But with Mark O'Connor watching him closely, Heeney rarely got off the leash again and his frustrations soon boiled over. In the second term, O'Connor chased Heeney down as was he streaming into the forward 50 and laid a fair tackle just as the Swans gun got his kick away. A fired-up Heeney immediately responded and shoved O'Connor onto his back multiple times, then added a high blow that handed the Cats a useful free kick and could come under the attention of the Match Review Officer.

Geelong spearhead takes centre stage
The spotlight has been burning bright on Jeremy Cameron as the Geelong star climbs closer to booting the first century of goals for 17 seasons. But as the Swans focused on stopping Cameron, the Cats' emerging key forward Shannon Neale took centre stage and played a starring role of his own. The 23-year-old has hardly been playing in his mentor's shadow but his deadly set shot kicking was worth the price of admission alone, as Neale moved beyond 40 goals with at least three games to come in his breakout season.

Young Cat stops the Lizard in his tracks
Nick Blakey was critical to the Swans' fast start as his pace and penetrating kicking when dashing off half-back opened up the Cats through the centre of the field. He set off on one of his darting runs halfway through the opening term but was brought to a grinding halt with a strong bump from emerging Cats defender Connor O'Sullivan. The transition still ended with Braeden Campbell booting the Swans' third goal, but Blakey took time to get back to his feet and had to be helped from the field. The 'Lizard' was back up and running shortly after, and returned to be an influential figure in his 150th match even as the Swans were gradually overrun.

SYDNEY  4.3   7.4  8.6  10.8 (68)
GEELONG   4.3   8.7   12.8  16.15 (111)

GOALS
Sydney: McLean 2, Ladhams 2, Papley 2, Heeney, Campbell, Buller, McCartin
Geelong: Neale 4, Stengle 3, Mannagh 3, Martin 2, Miers 2, Dangerfield, Dempsey

BEST
Sydney: Ladhams, Gulden, Papley, Warner, Mills
Geelong: Smith, Neale, Mannagh, Atkins, Holmes, Dempsey, Stengle, Stewart

INJURIES
Sydney: Nil
Geelong: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: Caiden Cleary (replaced Jesse Dattoli in the third quarter)
Geelong: Jack Bowes (replaced Jack Henry in the fourth quarter)

Crowd: 37,656 at the SCG