The biggest difference between a contender and a re-builder is the ability to play harder for longer. And nothing sums that up more than what happens during time-on.

West Coast’s 46-point loss to Geelong at Norwood Oval on Sunday was decided during red time.

The Cats blew the game open as West Coast’s younger players got tired and showed their class to win 17.20 (122) to 11.10 (76).

The Eagles led by six points entering time-on in the first term. But they trailed by seven points at quarter time.

West Coast were terrific for most of the second quarter, but the Cats outscored them 30-1 during time-on, and the Eagles’ only score during that time came on the siren.

And once the Cats had that type of control and opened up a match winning 30-point lead at the long break, there was no chance of West Coast getting back into the game.

Geelong were simply bigger, stronger, fitter, older and better. Bailey Smith had a day out with 34 disposals, seven clearances, one goal and 868 metres gained. Max Holmes’ running power was also on display all day as he finished with 34 possessions. Tom Atkins was also powerful all day.

But his was a vastly improved performance compared to last week.

Jobe Shanahan impressed with four goals, Bailey Williams had an immediate impact on the team after replacing Matt Flynn in the ruck. Harley Reid had 22 disposals, six clearances and one goal while Josh Lindsay had some promising moments in defence.

Williams had 20 disposals, seven clearances and won 35 hit outs against youngster Mitch Edwards and had no issues.

West Coast had to produce a response to last week’s horror effort against Sydney and they were a totally different group.

The slow starts that were a major problem against Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Sydney disappeared. They should have taken a decent lead after dominating the early parts of the match.

Harley Reid loved the freedom of not being tagged and found space with an early bounce to find Jake Waterman. But he missed.

Then Waterman got another opportunity after the Cats were penalised for a deliberate rushed behind. But he missed again.

Waterman was giving Geelong problems and found himself in incredible space as Tim Kelly surged forward, but his pass went over the forward’s head and the Eagles had only three points to show for their work.

The first term was even after that as West Coast’s crumbing became a feature. Both Harry Schoenberg and Liam Baker booted goals from strong work at ground level but the Cats got better the longer the quarter went.

They kicked three goals in five minutes and took a seven point lead to quarter time. But the signs were good.

Willem Duursma’s class was on show early in the second term with a fantastic overhead mark followed by a superb set shot from deep in the forward pocket. And Jobe Shanhan’s strong hands were also on display as he kicked another for the Eagles.

But Geelong’s experience was clear. Mark O’Connor had a purple patch, kicking successive majors to give him three goals for the half.

Smith was getting on top and Tanner Bruhn kept setting up his teammates.

Harley Reid was working hard to give his team a chance but Geelong were looking powerful. The Eagles were a totally different team to the one that let Sydney do as they pleased during last week’s 128-point mauling.

Contested possessions were even at half-time and so were the centre clearances. It was just that every time West Coast made an error, the Cats made them pay. And when the second term goes for 35 minutes, young players start looking for petrol tickets.

The Eagles kept having a crack after half-time. They conceded the first goal to Shannon Neale but responded with two of their own.

Harley Reid set up Jack Graham and then Kelly hit Waterman with a pass for another. Kelly did the same thing for Shanahan too and it was an even battle.

Then, just as the clock ticked into time-on, Reid lost concentration. He gave away a 50m penalty to Sam De Koning and the Cat kicked the goal.

That could have flattened West Coast. But this time they played out the quarter. Shanahan kicked his third and the Eagles were 35 points behind.

But it was clear that the Eagles were tired and faced a big challenge to run out the match.

That challenge looked even greater when Brad Close and Jeremy Cameron kicked the first two goals of the term and led by 47 points. But Shanahan’s fourth goal was a rich reward for his day.

Wesr Coast fought hard to avoid the game blowing out. They competed hard. Geelong’s experience was simply too much for them to handle.