Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson might claim that Geelong is beatable heading into Friday night's eagerly awaited blockbuster at the MCG but the stats would indicate otherwise.
The Cats have won 34 of their past 36 matches and after last week's 10-goal demolition of the second-placed Western Bulldogs - a win achieved without injured pair Gary Ablett and Cameron Ling - many believe it is only the third-placed Hawks that now stand between Geelong and back-to-back premierships.
But unfortunately for the Hawks they are striking Mark Thompson's all-conquering team at the peak of its form with the Cats' past five weeks simply stunning - even by their high standards of the past season and a half.
The Hawks might have beaten the Cats in their past three meetings but all of them occurred before the club's current hot streak - which began in Round 6 last year with a 157-point win over Richmond.
But it is the last five matches in which the Cats have astonished even seasoned football watchers with their sheer brilliance.
According to Champion Data, the AFL's official stats supplier, the Cats' drive towards successive flags for the first time since 1952 has gone into overdrive since a narrow win over North Melbourne in Round 11.
"I don't think we've ever seen a team with a hotter stretch of form than what the Cats have produced in the last five weeks," Champion Data's Glenn Luff told Sportal.
In the past five weeks the Cats have beaten Port Adelaide 59 points, West Coast by 135 (the Eagles' biggest ever loss at Subiaco), Adelaide by 68 (at AAMI Stadium), Fremantle by 74 and the Bulldogs by 61 last week.
During this period, as Champion Data reveals, the Cats have amassed a percentage of 249 - double any other team in the competition - and have averaged 133 points per game and conceded just 53 points per game.
The best any other club has managed over the same period is an average of 121 points for per game and an average of 81 points against - highlighting just how far ahead the Cats are of the rest of the competition.
The Cats have not conceded more than 70 points in a game during this time and in fact have only conceded more than 100 points in a game four times in the past 36 matches.
And the reason for the Cats' dominance; according to Luff; is simple - "they have absolutely owned the footy".
In the last five weeks the Cats have averaged 454 disposals per game and during that period all five of their final possession tallies have ranked in the top seven disposal tallies by any club in the history of the game.
And in the same period the Cats have conceded just 347 disposals, meaning they have had the ball an average of 107 times more than the opposition.
Overall the Cats' key numbers this year more than stack up against their devastating 2007 season - when the club won its first flag for 44 years courtesy of a record 119-point grand final victory over Port Adelaide - as the table below indicates.
| Geelong | 2007 | Rank | 2008 | Rank |
|---|
| Points For | 115.5 | #1 | 117.6 | #2 | |
| Points Against | 75.6 | #1 | 76.3 | #1 | |
| Percentage | 152.80% | #1 | 154.05% | #1 | |
| Average Disposals Difference | 44 | #2 | 55.9 | #1 | |
| Average Contested Possessions Difference | 7.8 | #2 | 7.8 | #3 | |
| Average Uncontested Possessions Difference | 36.4 | #3 | 47.9 | #1 | |
| Average Inside 50s Difference | 9.3 | #1 | 6.3 | #1 | |
| % Goals Once Inside 50 | 29.60% | #1 | 30.00% | #5 | |
So overall while there is genuine hope that the Hawks - who possess the league's most potent key