Two behinds, such contrasting emotions.

Geelong star Jimmy Bartel thought he had blown the chance to pinch a win over Hawthorn, when his snap shot late in the last quarter scraped the post and levelled the scores.

But Bartel had never been so happy to kick a behind just three minutes later, when his kick after the final siren was good enough to break the deadlock and send the Cats to a remarkable 15.9 (99) to 14.14 (98) win.

Thirty metres out on a tight angle, with the wind swirling and the siren blaring to make sure the entire MCG heard it, Bartel's thoughts were pretty simple as he lined up.

"I just wanted to kick it over the man on the mark and make sure we scored," he said.

"I wasn't really caring about a goal, just don't kick it out on the full."

Bartel's elation could not be seen as his teammates mobbed him, but it was a lot different to how he was feeling a few minutes earlier.

"I was a bit worried about that, that hit the post, I thought I might have blown the chance for us," he said.

Thankfully for Geelong, Bartel knew there was little time left when he marked the hurried kick from teammate Joel Corey, and never contemplated playing on, which would have left the game drawn.

"Our runner would have tackled me if I'd played on, he was right on top of me," he said.

Bartel, the 2007 Brownlow medallist, rated Geelong's win, after storming back from 28 points down despite injured players on the bench, among his side's greatest.

"It's a pretty special win considering how poorly we played in the second quarter," he said.

"Hawthorn were all over us playing good footy.

"But also to have our two key defenders (Matthew Scarlett and Harry Taylor, injured) at the start of the third and everyone playing out of position and four goals down, it's one of the best wins.

"We'll certainly enjoy it."

Corey, who had a huge say on the result with a last quarter comprising 12 disposals, a goal and a hand in two others, rated the victory one of the best he had experienced.

"That's one of the best wins I've been involved with in at least 18 months I was just really happy," he said.

"Everyone just dug away, and hopefully it just kicks off something good.

"Credit to the boys and the coaching staff - we just went back to basics and we enjoyed it in the end."

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