The Cats will be without Patrick Dangerfield on Friday night as they attempt to make up for their upset loss to 2020 wooden-spooners Adelaide last Saturday.
“We don’t have a like-for-like [for Dangerfield] – no one does,” Geelong coach Chris Scott told the media on Tuesday.
“We will get some players back that were held back a little bit last week, so we’d expect that Zach Tuohy would be ready now and Jack Henry would be ready.
“There’s a few other options that we’re weighing up there.
“I doubt Mitch Duncan would be ready and Sam Simpson not quite either, so there are a few in that uncertain mix, but I think Tuohy and Henry are the obvious ones that are ready to come back.”
The Crows shocked Geelong with their intense pressure and effort in the first half and led by 43 points early in the third quarter.
The Cats lifted their game dramatically, chasing down the lead and, at one stage, looking likely to overrun the crows.
But they squandered chances to draw level in front of goal and had some crucial turnovers in the back half.
“We didn’t play anywhere near as well we’d like to,” Scott said.
“The opposition were good. We need to find a way to improve quickly because it was quite a poor performance.
“We’ve looked at the game really closely but we’re doing everything that we can to look forward and make sure that we play more like the way we’d like to this week.”
The Cats face the Brisbane Lions, who also suffered an upset in the opening round, losing to Sydney by 31 points at home.
Scott acknowledged the “dangerous” and “taller” forward line of last year’s ladder runner-up, featuring Essendon recruit Joe Daniher.
“No doubt they are more dangerous with Joe in there,” he said.
The Cats would also be wary of Tom Fullarton as a forward target and backup ruck, along with fellow tall Eric Hipwood and dangerous small forward Charlie Cameron, Scott said.
Scott was pleased to play at home with a new maximum capacity of 27,819 at GMHBA Stadium.
“We haven’t played in front of a loud Geelong home crowd since August 2019 for premiership points,” he said.
“It feels like a long long time ago. Our people have been starved of footy and we’re just looking forward to putting on a good show in front of a hostile but fair Geelong crowd.”
Scott acknowledged the responsibility of clubs to protect players from concession, prior to the AFL Tribunal suspending Dangerfield for three weeks for his bump on and head clash with Jake Kelly.
“We would like to coach our players to tackle as opposed to bump where possible,” he said.
“Now the risk there when a player has the ball and disposes of it before you make contact is that you might give away a free kick and possibly give away a 50 [metre penalty] as well.
“But that is a much better situation, I think, for our game and even for us as a football club than having players concussed in the way that Jake Kelly was.”
Geelong’s home crowd advantage should get them over the line. Cats by 18 points.
