The Cats will face the Dockers and a fired up Fremantle crowd as they begin their quest for the 2017 flag at Domain Stadium Sunday.
“It will be pretty fiery over there, I imagine,” said Geelong coach Chris Scott.
Cats fans will hope for stellar performances from Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield, who starred last year with 31 disposals and four goals.
“I think it’s bleeding obvious we’ve got two exceptional midfielders,” Scott said, sick of addressing media commentary on Geelong’s “over-reliance” on the pair.
The Cats will be without Selwood’s brother Scott who was likely to return in round 3.
“He’s done a fair amount of work, but just hasn’t been able to get that final 5 or 10 per cent of intensity,” Scott said Wednesday.
Defender Jake Kolodjashnij was also unlikely to return for a few weeks.
“It’s disappointing for us that he is not available as he is someone we’ve earmarked to help transition our slightly ageing defensive group,” Scott said.
Fremantle only won four games last year, but Scott said the Cats would be facing a greatly changed side.
“I think they’re going to be a pretty big team this year.”
While the retirement of Fremantle great Matthew Pavlich will pose one less threat for the Cats, Scott was still wary of the Docker’s forward line.
The Dockers have recruited promising forward Cam McCarthy (GWS) and former Cat Shane Kersten to bolster its attack.
“They’ve clearly got some weapons there that they didn’t have last year,” Scott said.
Fremantle will also take the field without pesky forward Hayden Ballantine.
“They’ll replace him with a good player, there’s no doubt about that,” Scott said.
“They’ve been able to replace some really, really good players with some really, really good players, which is annoying.”
Midfield superstar Nat Fyfe will lead the Dockers for the first time after returning from a broken leg.
Scott told a media conference Wednesday he and the club had agreed “in principle” to him coaching for at least three more years.
“I was going to say I don’t really want to talk about the detail, but I’m kind of sick of putting it off,”
“I’m committed for at least that time and longer to be frank. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve been there since October -the club’s committed to me and I’m absolutely committed to them.”
Some unexpected teams could challenge for the flag in what looks to be a very even season, Scott said.
“There are also some nice opportunities for the teams that have been outside the eight for a period of time. You’ve got these teams that have been building for a long time.”
Scott was also looking forward to seeing rookies Zac Guthrie, Bradon Parfitt and Tom Stewart making their debuts in the near future.
