GEELONG coach Mark Thompson has delivered the premiership he promised president Frank Costa when appointed eight years ago.

Costa, speaking to supporters and sponsors at the Cats' celebratory dinner last night, said the club had "wanted, chased and got" the best possible coach and a bold decision-maker when it appointed the former Essendon captain at the end of 1999.

"Mark has proven to be a fantastic builder from scratch. I know that in the first 12 months we changed 13 of our playing list. The next year it was 22 and in the period of 12 months it was half the list and we were starting to be a really good team again," Costa said.

"He said we'd be there in 2006 and 2007, that that's when we'll challenge for the flag. He said, this group of young kids is so good we might pinch one along the way … we almost did in 2004 and 2005.

"We don't need to go into that tonight, we missed out in 2006. We did the most insightful review ever, and it was very hard on Mark.

"However, the changes were made and I think it's absolutely magnificent the way all of those changes were put in place."

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook told fans to enjoy celebrating the club's first flag since 1963 without worrying about future success.

"Someone asked me straight after the game today: what's next? And I said, party for three months," Cook said. "Enjoy the moment. It may last a day, it may last a week, it may last a month … It's been 44 years, let's enjoy the moment."