A collective will of iron forged in pain and straight kicking have lifted Geelong from the no-man's land of unfulfilled potential to true AFL greatness.

The Cats' desperately hard-fought 12.8 (80) to 9.14 (68) grand final win over St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday could not have been further from the record 119-point thrashing of Port Adelaide they romped to on grand final day two years ago.

But, together, they make the Cats one of football history's great teams, after missing out with a shock loss to Hawthorn in last year's grand final.

"There was a lot of pressure from everybody expecting us, saying if we only won one out of three it's not good enough. I've been quoted as saying that too," Thompson said.

"That's not to say we can't win it again next year and that we won't be trying to win it again next year and our run is over, it's clearly not."

But for much of Saturday's encounter, the Cats looked unlikely victors.

St Kilda dominated in general play, with only a series of poor shots at goal keeping Geelong in touch, with the minor premiers just seven points clear at the last change when they should have been well ahead.

That was still a handy break in difficult wet conditions and with both teams severely fatigued by a ferocious first three quarters.

But the Cats lifted when they had to, keeping St Kilda goal-less in the final quarter and forcing through three priceless goals themselves, including the winning snap from Norm Smith Medallist Paul Chapman, which broke the deadlock with about three minutes to play.

Chapman, who also set up the first goal of the term for Tom Hawkins, had courageously played with a hamstring tear from early in the second quarter.

After Geelong were on the wrong end of a similar scenario in the 2008 loss to Hawthorn, coach Mark Thompson said they were never going to let this chance slip.

"It's really painful to lose a grand final. It doesn't matter when you play in it, it's hard to watch, it's hard to cop," he said.

"If you get another chance to be in one, as (soon) as we did, one year, I don't think if you look back in history there'd be too many teams that lose the second one in a row."

"... at three-quarter time, I just said 'you play a lifetime of footy to get into this position, play your best quarter of footy, this is what dreams are made of' and I thought our last quarter was outstanding."

Thompson said his team was full of champion players - Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett and Chapman among them - but proved again on Saturday they were a champion team.

Ablett, Joel Selwood and Joel Corey turned the tide in the packs as the game wore on.

Jimmy Bartel sacrificed his own game to stem St Kilda ball-winner Lenny Hayes, who dominated in the first term, while Cameron Ling quelled similarly fast-starter Nick Dal Santo.

Defender Harry Taylor - one of four Cats to win their first premiership medal, along with Travis Varcoe, Mark Blake and Hawkins - battled superbly to keep St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt to one goal, while Matthew Scarlett dominated against Justin Koschitzke, although the conditions worked against the Saints' big men.

But the bigger issue for the Saints was a series of missed chances, particularly by small forwards Adam Schneider, Andrew McQualter and Stephen Milne in the first half.

The Cats were also helped by having a Hawkins shot which hit the post called a goal in the second term, although that was countered by a double-goal to the Saints right on half-time, after Darren Milburn was penalised for abusing a goal umpire.

Milburn, the Cats' oldest player, apologised to his teammates at halftime and later told them that in the dying minutes he was determined not to let that cost them the game.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon, whose club is left with their one-point grand final win over Collingwood in 1966 as their sole premiership in 113 seasons, said he could not question his players' efforts, despite their missed opportunities.

"Obviously I'm upset for them, upset for the club. A lot of people put in a lot of work and it's a lot of work to get back here, so it can be a little bit overwhelming," Lyon said.

"But in saying that, I don't think we crumbled under grand final heat, we stood up ... we're a better team and a better club than we were at the end of '08 and that's the aim again next year."

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