North Melbourne was thrashed by Geelong on Saturday night at GMHBA Stadium.
The Kangaroos were held to just 1.8 (14) by a rampant Cats side.
North coach Rhyce Shaw said it was at the coalface that his team was outclassed.
The Cats won the clearances by 21 (47-26) and that led to a whopping 28 differential (62-34) in the inside 50 count that the home side took full advantage of.
"It's pretty simple, it was in the contest. We got beat pretty convincingly in there," Shaw said after the 55-point loss.
"Geelong gave us a real lesson inside, it's a simple as that."
The Kangaroos were actually in touch with the league leaders for much of the opening half and trailed by just 16 points at the main break as both sides struggled to find avenues to score in conditions not conducive to attractive football.
Shaw said the final result may have been different had his team made the most of its early opportunities and the final margin snowballed as the Kangas continued to chase the game.
"We felt in the first quarter we were in there with a sniff and we played some pretty good footy," he said.
"We had 15 inside 50s but we just couldn't score.
"That was something we had to change, but it just didn't work for us after that.
"We kept changing things, we were always chasing our tail a little bit in that regard."
Shaw said the fact the Kangaroos managed their lowest score since joining the League in 1925 meant little to him and he was more concerned with his team's performance.
"I know we learnt a lot tonight from that game and it shows the gap we need to make up to compete with the really good sides," Shaw said.
"I am more worried about the way we played more than anything (and more) than the score.
"We need to be able to defend a bit better and our midfield needs to lift in a few areas."
The disappointing loss was further soured by a knock that veteran defender Scott Thompson picked up during the third term when he landed heavily after being dragged down in a marking contest.
Shaw said Thompson, who announced during the week that he would retire at the end of the season, passed the concussion test, but medicos decided it would be best for the 33-year-old to sit out the remainder of the match.
GEELONG 1.3 3.9 6.13 9.15 (69)
NORTH MELBOURNE 0.2 1.5 1.8 1.8 (14)
GOALS
Geelong: Miers 3, Hawkins 2, Narkle 2, Dahlhaus, Dangerfield
North Melbourne: Goldstein
BEST
Geelong: Narkle, Dangerfield, Miers, Duncan, Tuohy
North Melbourne: Cunnington, Macmillan, Ziebell, Tarrant
INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
North Melbourne: Thompson (concussion)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Haussen, Stevic, Chamberlain
Official crowd: 21,664 at GMHBA Stadium
