Geelong survived a late challenge from the Western Bulldogs on Saturday to win their AFL match by 21 points at Etihad Stadium.

The undermanned Bulldogs kicked the only three goals of the last term, but the Cats remain unbeaten this season with the 15.17 (107) to 13.8 (86) win.

Cats key defender Harry Taylor was best afield, kicking five goals before going back for the last term.

Taylor was Geelong’s main target in attack because star forward Tom Hawkins was a late withdrawal with a back injury.

Leading by 36 points at three-quarter time, Geelong scored five behinds for the last term.

Geelong were down one player on the interchange bench for the second half and tired noticeably during the final quarter.

They lost defender Jared Rivers with a knee injury in the first term and then midfielder Josh Caddy suffered a knock to the head in the second quarter.

Caddy was also restricted to the bench for the rest of the game.

Bulldogs defender Brett Goodes is likely to come under video review for the incident in which Caddy was hurt.

Coach Brendan McCartney had urged the Bulldogs pre-match to take the game on and they were certainly brave.

While the Cats were superb with their transition play, the ‘Dogs were never overawed by their much better-credentialled opposition.

Cats star Steve Johnson was high among their best players, although the midfielder also made some glaring errors with his often-freakish play.

Jimmy Bartel was outstanding across half-back and Steven Motlop kicked four goals.

Bulldogs captain Matthew Boyd impressed with 29 disposals and Liam Jones kicked four goals.

The Cats led by 40 points during the third term and were on the verge of breaking the game apart.

But the Bulldogs kicked two of the last three goals in the quarter to keep the margin manageable.