GEELONG might be sitting at 14-2 in second place on the AFL ladder, but that record and position might be somewhat misleading.

The question hovering over the Cats as they head into the run to the finals is whether that mark is slightly flattering or if it camouflages the fact they are yet to play their best football.

Having squeezed through tight contests that could have been losses, Geelong might have been 11-5 or 12-4 and not being considered a true premiership threat.

But midfielder Jimmy Bartel is looking forward to the coming games as Geelong starts to pull together its strongest and best 22 and gather momentum for a tilt at a third flag in five seasons.

“We probably want to settle the side down a bit and settle blokes down into positions or roles you really want them to play because a bit of cohesion certainly does help,” Bartel said.

“If you look at all the sides that have won premierships over the last 10 or 12 years they’ve pretty much had the same 22 play the last five or six weeks of the season and look really balanced and know what everyone else is doing on the field.”

Certainly, it has been rare, that Geelong has fielded what could be considered its best team this season, as was the case again for the 29-point win over Brisbane at the Gabba on Sunday.

Missing from the line-up against Brisbane were All-Australian fullback Matthew Scarlett, No.1 ruckman Brad Ottens and veterans David Wojcinski and Darren Milburn, who all would make the Cats much stronger.

But the bottom line for Geelong as it chases the ultimate success, regardless of who is in the team on any given day, is to play well as a team for as close to four quarters as possible.

That has not happened too often this season and after the win over Brisbane, coach Chris Scott was not shy in declaring the Cats’ regular-season form will not cut the mustard in the finals.

“We all understand that,” Bartel said. “Everyone knows that with finals footy you can’t play two or three quarters and get a win. The competition is so close this year that any slight bit off the pace, the opposition just jumps all over it. You need four good solid quarters of footy.

“I don’t think we’ve played a complete perfect game, but I don’t think you ever can because the opposition dictates that to you. We’ve probably played against Collingwood, Carlton and a couple of those sides with really solid football and we got good results against those sides. We’ve only been beaten by eight points and four points, so it’s hardly been a disaster.”

While the win over Brisbane took a grinding effort to overcome the Lions on their home patch, the most important thing for the Cats was getting the win after losing two straight games.

It was another reminder for the Cats that they have plenty of work to do as the finals start to come into focus, but there is no chance they will settle for where they are what they have done.

“We don’t accept just putting up average performances or losing,” Bartel said. “We’re more critical than the supporters who follow us because we pretty much analyse it every day and try to seek perfection.”