CATS star Joel Corey did not know there was less than 10 seconds remaining when he ripped the ball from a pack with scores level in what had been an epic encounter between last year's grand finalists.

But he did know the next score would win the match and threw his boot desperately at the ball in the hope of sending it goalward. 

The kick was pressured, floaty and off-line – and was marked in the pocket by teammate Jimmy Bartel just before the final siren sounded.

“BEST mis-kick of all time,” was how Corey summed up his effort after Geelong's momentous comeback over Hawthorn at the MCG.

“I just wanted to kick a point, basically, just put it though,” he said in the Cats rooms after the thrilling one-point win.

“Even if I just put it close so the boys could just knock it over.

“It was going in that direction, but I didn’t have a clue, actually ... I was very lucky it didn’t go out of bounds, and Jimmy took the mark.”

The Cats have won 57 of their past 62 matches, but the two-time Carji Greeves medallist (Cats best-and-fairest) said it was one of the club’s best wins since the 2007 grand final.

“Everyone just dug away and I just hope it kicks off something good.

“Hopefully we kick off our season now because we have been floundering a little bit – I don’t mind admitting that.

“Hopefully we can really lock in and put in a solid five or six weeks, and then hopefully play some good finals when they come around.”

Coach Mark Thompson gave the team a good old-fashioned spray at the half-time break, but Corey said he was a lot more subdued at the last change.

“Oh yeah, he unleashed – I haven’t had one of those for a while. It was up there, actually,” he said with a laugh.

“[At three-quarter time] he was pretty calm – I think there was an element of he didn’t think we could actually win the game in his voice.

“He just said go about your business and do what you do.

“I don’t know if he expected that.”