Ladies and gentlemen, we have a season.

The feeling was that a Collingwood whitewash of Geelong would kill much of the interest in the 2011 season and that 16 other teams would be playing for second.

Instead, it is the Cats who remain unbeaten after eight rounds after handing Collingwood just its second loss in a meaningful match in nearly 12 months. Or first if you believe the Pies never got out of second gear when they lost to Hawthorn by less than a goal last year.

Just like Paul Keating once said of a recession that it was one we "had to have" the feeling here is that Pies coach Mick Malthouse won't be all that shattered at the three-point defeat.

The loss keeps the Pies on edge. Malthouse can shake the side up just that little bit. He'll be counting the weeks until the return of no.1 ruckman Darren Jolly and he'd also want Nick Maxwell back. But it would have to be the 2010 version of the Magpie skipper, with his freewheeling and organisation in the backline, not the 2011 version that is struggling.

The Pies lost further run from the backline in the late, critical stages when Alan Toovey was carried from the ground after a head clash, and while Dane Swan was going great guns in the middle, it wasn't enough.

The Cats were outstanding and once again, coach Chris Scott must be pinching himself at his good fortune to inherit a side that knows how to win close matches. The clock is ticking for the Cats, but there is one last, big crack at a premiership in this side and there is a touch of Hawthorn of 1991 in the Cats this year. Written off as too old and too slow at the start of that season, the Hawks were nevertheless the ones left holding the cup at the end.

No surprise that Joel Selwood was best on ground in his 100th game. 28 touches, six clearances and nine inside 50s represented a great night's work. Nor was it surprising that Jimmy Bartel delivered big time for the Cats at the crunch. Not sure if there is a better player at the pointy end of a match in the competition.

We asked the question a few weeks ago about when the Pies would lose their first game. Now we ask it of Geelong.It could be Carlton at Etihad next week, with the Blues in really good touch, otherwise, they will be likely tested three weeks after that when they meet Hawthorn again at the MCG. Then again, the Cats always find a way to beat the Hawks, at least they have since the 2008 Grand Final.

But for now, they sit a game clear on top of the ladder and we await to see whether premiership favouritism comes with it when the bookies adjust their odds over the weekend.

What we do know is that the Pies and the Cats are due to meet again at least once more this season, in the final round of the home and away season. On exposed form it is likely to again be a clash of the top two sides on the ladder. And one the Pies might just need to win in order to stamp some authority and regain some confidence on the eve of the finals.