Only percentage had separated the Cats from the top of the ladder at the end of the 2016 home and away season. Only one win separated them from a grand final berth. And arguably just one quarter of football separated them from a popular perception that they were still a decent chance for a premiership.

That seven-goals-to-nil first quarter blowout in the preliminary final against Sydney loomed large in the memory when pundits considered their 2017 ladders, exaggerating the perceived gap between the Cats and the Swans.

It emphasised two points. One was that Geelong were too dependent on the contribution of Patrick Dangerfield, the soon-to-be crowned Brownlow medallist with 14 disposals in that disastrous first term, the next best Cat with just seven.

The other was that the Cats didn't get enough bang for their buck when they went forward, the inside-50s in that quarter 13-17, but the scoreboard reading 0.5 to 7.2. That was borne out by the season's statistics, which gave Geelong by some margin the best inside-50 differential in the AFL, but only a ranking of third for points scored.

They were issues of ball distribution and efficiency. Importantly, they were issues requiring nips and tucks, not a major reconstruction. And with a current win-loss ratio of 5-0, you'd have to say Dr Chris Scott is looking a pretty handy surgeon.

Geelong needed a lot more support for Dangerfield. So far, it's being delivered. The Cats needed better delivery into the scoring zone. That's happening, too, Geelong's onballers finding more time and space for their entries into the domain of goalkickers Tom Hawkins and Daniel Menzel.

And a subtle change to the way they approach winning the football has enabled the Cats to solve two problems with one solution.

Geelong are finding that extra time and space with handball. Dangerfield is responsible for much of that. And becoming more of an extractor and giver of the football, he's bringing a lot more teammates into the action.

In 2016, Dangerfield averaged 16 kicks and 16 handballs a game. Currently, it's 11 kicks and 20 handballs. Last year, his percentage of contested to uncontested possession was exactly 50-50. In 2017, it's 59 per cent contested, 41 per cent uncontested.

The most obvious beneficiary of Dangerfield winning more hard ball has been Mitch Duncan, currently averaging 29 disposals a game compared with last year's 22. But even skipper Joel Selwood is up four disposals on 2016.

It's not just the onballers, either. Defenders like Zac Tuohy and Andrew Mackie are offering a heap of rebound, Tuohy averaging 25 disposals, Mackie 21, also up significantly on last season.

Dangerfield is far from the only handball-happy Cat. Steven Motlop, a far better player this year than last, is averaging only one more disposal, but his kick-to-handball ratio has gone from the highest to lowest of his career one season to the next.

Indeed, Geelong are the only team in the AFL so far to have handballed more than they've kicked, their current ratio 0.97 for a ranking of 18th compared with 2016's 1.21 and 10th. The change of tack was apparent during the JLT series, when Scott told Fairfax Media that with a then kick-to-handball ratio of 0.90, the Cats were overdoing it.

"We've had some emphasis on it, but clearly overreached in those games, so the plan isn't being executed as we would have liked," he said. "It's about trying to get a bit more time and space and efficiency, but that's manifesting in overuse at the moment, so I don't think that will continue."

The overuse hasn't continued. But the handballs have, and the rationale about better disposal inside 50 is being played out to a tee.

From a clear first on the inside-50 differentials, Geelong now are only 12th. But where an average 57 entries last year were earning them 101.5 points a game, just 51 entries this season are getting them an average 123 points, almost four more goals a game.

The handball has become more of an offensive weapon and less a bailout option under pressure into a disorganised and crowded forward line. And it's being facilitated by a greater preparedness to play on quickly, Geelong going from last on the mark/play-on rankings in 2016 to eighth at the moment.

They're the sort of corrections that might not even be immediately obvious to the naked eye, but for Geelong, they're having a major impact. And ultimately, they're capable of having a far bigger say on the Cats' fortunes in 2017 than one shocking quarter last September did on people's perceptions.