Speaking after the Cats' 19-point win at the MCG - their 12th victory in the past 13 meetings between the two clubs and which propelled them to the top of the ladder - Clarkson said the scoreboard had flattered his Hawks.

Hawthorn hit the front in the last quarter in front of more than 80,000 fans, but couldn't withstand Geelong's powerful finish.

The Cats kicked six goals in the final term, three from the boot of key forward Tom Hawkins who had fought a good battle with undersized defender Kyle Cheney but got on top when it mattered.

Clarkson paid tribute to Geelong's sustained period near the top of the AFL ladder over a decade. He said the Cats were a club to which Hawthorn aspired.

''They play it beautifully,'' Clarkson said of his opposite number Chris Scott's habit of playing down the Cats' credentials. ''[They say] Hawthorn are standouts, everyone's chasing them. Well, there might be a few chasing the Cats now.

''Everyone keeps writing them off and I don't know why. Certainly no one at our club does … We know what their talent is … But it's got nothing to do with blokes who are playing, it's all got to do with their system.

''It's been a very powerful system, the same as at Sydney. Blokes will come and go … but it's their system, and it's an outstanding system. That's why they keep competing at the top end of the ladder, and what we're trying to do is emulate them.

''Everyone keeps going, 'Oh [Cameron] Ling has retired, they'll be no good'. [Matthew] Scarlett retires - 'Oh, they're not going to be any good', but they just get blokes to come in to replace them and do exactly the same roles. They're an outstanding club.''

Clarkson hinted that the loss might even serve some good for his team, which hadn't lost since its defeat at the hands of Richmond in round 19 last season. ''It's not too horrific to get a wake-up call every now and again.

''We'll lick our wounds and get ourselves ready for the Tigers next Sunday afternoon.''

Clarkson defended the decision not to play premiership full-back Brian Lake on Hawkins, who kicked five goals, saying the long-term purpose of getting enough football into Lake, who missed the first three rounds through suspension, outweighed any short-term benefits of rushing him back. ''He's not ready,'' Clarkson said. ''He might be next week. He's played 160 minutes of footy now over the course of two weeks.''

Scott lauded his team's effort in restricting Hawthorn to 87 points.

''(Hawthorn) just controlled the game so well,'' he said. ''They're so formidable in attack that even late in the game, when we seemingly had the scoreboard under control, they just look like they can score.

''From that perspective, I think we kept them to 87 points and that's a pretty good effort.''

Scott agreed that Hawkins' final term dominance was reminiscent of his 2011 grand final performance against Collingwood.

''I don't mind saying it publicly. I think that is the thing we value more than any other, players who stand up when it really counts, in the crucial contests, in the crucial moments of the game when the heat is really on.

''It's easy to do it when you're front-running and there's not much at stake, but to do it when it counts, in my view that is the mark of a great player.''