Geelong coach Mark Thompson believes a rare defeat will serve the Cats well if they meet St Kilda again this AFL season.

The Saints' six-point win in a blockbuster that lived up to the hype, at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, kept them unbeaten and brought Geelong's 13-game winning run to an end.

But Thompson felt Geelong gained plenty, as they were under-par overall, had star forward Steve Johnson (hip) out and gave the Saints a five-goal start before fighting back.

Although he could be accused of trying to spin a loss - just Geelong's fourth in 59 games - Thompson said both sides would draw positives out of the game, played at a fierce tempo and before 54,444 fans.

"There are so many things we'd like to do better and we've had a real good look," he said after the 14.7 (91) to 13.7 (85) result.

"The beauty about this game was it was a pretty pressurised game, and we tried things that worked and that didn't work.

"They certainly exposed us in some areas. They have a very good knowledge of us and now we know what they're going to do against us.

"It makes for a very good rematch."

The Cats were blown away early by St Kilda's pressure and better ball use, but gradually whittled down a deficit that hit 31 points before quarter-time.

They drew within three points in the third term, until St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt booted a magnificent steadier for his side, and looked gone when Justin Koschitzke and Michael Gardiner put the Saints 23 points up eight minutes into the last quarter.

But the refusal of Geelong to yield inspired Paul Chapman, Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett to drive a last challenge that produced five of the next six goals, until Gardiner kicked the sealer.

"I'm incredibly proud. That was one of the real positives out of the day," Thompson said of Geelong's fightback.

"We could have just packed our bags and gone, but there was a resolve and a level of excellence.

"The Geelong footy club players have got ability and they don't like losing.

"We fought our way back a few times and we've just put on a pretty good game of footy for the people that watch the game."

The only way Geelong and St Kilda can meet again this season will be in the finals, and fullback Matthew Scarlett was hopeful Sunday's result continued a trend from the past two years, where the sides which lost late in the season won the grand final.

"(In 2007) Port beat us (in round 21) and we beat them (in the grand final)," Scarlett said.

"We beat the Hawks (in round 17) last year and they beat us (in the grand final).

"Hopefully that's the trend. Losing tonight's not the end of the (world), we're just a little bit disappointed with the way we went about it early."

Geelong felt they were unlucky not to get the chance to pinch the lead after Mathew Stokes levelled the scores with about five minutes left.

But a free kick to Geelong's Joel Corey at half-forward was awarded advantage, when it did not benefit the Cats and they lost possession.

Scarlett made it clear he was unhappy when he asked rhetorically: "Was it an advantage?"

But Thompson said he had no issue, as players, coaches and umpires never had perfect games.

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