Geelong will continue to expose its next generation of centre-square players to excellent opposition, despite coach Chris Scott's belief that his side needs to quickly improve that part of its game.

Scott said the fact the Cats had fallen three or four goals behind most weeks indicated they had made an inconsistent and, at times, fortunate start to the season, despite being beaten for the first time by Collingwood.

"We need to improve. We're not playing our best footy consistently through games, and we've been fortunate. There's no hiding that. We've been pretty upfront about that I think," said Scott after the six-point loss, Geelong's first for the season.

"We've been three, four, five goals down in virtually ever game we've played this year. That's not the hallmark of an unbeatable side, for me. We're under no illusions as to where we need to get to, and we know we're a long way from that.

"The result could have gone either way but the unfortunate reality at the moment is we're not playing well enough consistently in games. Our first half was as poor as I've seen us play which probably leads you to believe that you should lose the game.