Geelong coach Chris Scott acknowledges that his side was "fortunate" to come away with the four premiership points on Saturday night after a nail-biting finish against Collingwood.
The Cats were largely chasing the Magpies around the whole evening before a last-quarter resurgence resulted in a 17-point lead with less than five minutes remaining.
But in true Collingwood fashion, they returned with a bang, and milestone man Jack Crisp had the opportunity to steal the victory with a shot after the siren, but sprayed it.
"It can't be repeated what was on my mind (when Jack Crisp was going for goal),โ Scott said.
"It was a game where you kind of expected something like that to happen."
Geelong seemingly got the rub of the green on two controversial umpiring decisions as the Pies made a run towards victory.
Lachie Schultz was denied a goal after a review by the ARC (AFL Review Centre), with the vision provided not enough to overturn the soft call of a behind.
A minute later, Bobby Hill was penalised for tripping Shaun Mannagh during a rundown tackle, with many believing he should've been awarded for holding the ball.
Both moments adding "theatre" to the heart-stopping contest.
"The holding the ball free kick in the middle added to the theatre of it, and get it forward and have a shot after the siren," Scott continued.
"The one that was more frustrating was the mark in the goalsquare. Before that, we were fortunate to get away with the win in the end, the way the last two or three minutes played out.
"Not fortunate before that to get ourselves in that position. After being outplayed for a big part of the middle of the game, the ability to hang in there and to give ourselves a chance, that was admirable.
"It's not just in this moment, it's been going on for a while, they (our players) hang in."
Despite the stirring victory, a hamstring injury to ruckman Rhys Stanley in the first term ultimately soured the post-game feeling.
Utility Mark Blicavs was able to cover for the void left by Stanley, helping combat in-form ruckman Darcy Cameron.
Although hamstring injuries tend to be at least three weeks, depending on the severity, Scott said the club will have a clearer picture later next week.
"We can guess and give you a number, and it won't be right," Scott said.
"Anyone that tells you what hamstring injuries are in the moment, they're just lying to you."
"(Blicavs) was critical. When we lost Stanley to a hamstring... I won't lie to you, I thought, โOkay, this is going to be a real challenge now', and we're going to need some guys to step up and play some big minutes."
Scott alluded to the many options the Cats have to fill the ruck role.
The potential return of key defenders Jack Henry and Jake Kolodjashnij could release Blicavs further up the field, while Sam De Koning is another alternative.
Emerging rucks Toby Conway (back) and Mitch Edwards (management) have no timeline on their return.
"I don't know exactly how we're going to go, but we feel like we've got options there,โ Scott said.
"We've got two young ruckman on our list that we're really confident are going to be good players, unfortunately, they're still not available.
"So it means we've got to be a bit more creative right at the moment, it's not ideal.
"Hopefully, we get Kolodjashnij and Jack Henry back soon, which gives us a bit more optionality again."
