A withering second-half burst by Geelong and yet another Essendon fadeout allowed the Cats to thump the Dons by 56 points in AFL round four at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.

The Cats trailed by 20 points in the third quarter and were struggling but then rammed on 12 unanswered goals to win 19.17 (131) to 11.9 (75).

Geelong suddenly clicked in the third quarter, returning to the free-running form of round one after successive losses to West Coast and Melbourne.

Essendon was simply uncompetitive from midway through the third term, heightening questions about second-half performances after fadeouts against Hawthorn in last week's narrow victory and against Carlton when the Dons gave up a 28-point lead.

On Saturday night they appeared at their lowest ebb for many years and the coming Anzac Day match against Collingwood - also 1-3 after four rounds - looks like condemning the loser to a very long winter.

Geelong was the better side in the first half but butchered a series of goal opportunities, Henry Playfair the chief culprit with three behinds from gettable shots.

Brad Ottens and Kent Kingsley kicked a couple each while Corey Enright was providing nice rebound from defence.

Essendon, thanks to Geelong's profligate finishing, was within five points at half-time and looked like making the most of it with a 20-point lead approaching the midway point of the third quarter.

A remarkable transformation came over the match at that stage.

There was no obvious turning point, no piece of brilliance or horrendous mistake, but Geelong took total control.

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