Geelong midfielder Mitch Duncan said his side is looking forward to playing at GMHBA Stadium for the first time this season tomorrow night.
The Cats will meet last year’s grand final opponent Sydney in Geelong at 7.25pm.
“It’s going to be an exciting challenge,” Duncan said.
“Both teams are a bit different, it’s exciting to unveil the premiership flag to the fans. It just so happens we play Sydney, but it’s going to be an exciting night for the fans to see that and to get back to playing at GMHBA Stadium.
“It’s going to be great to play in front of a full stadium, full of Cats fans.”
Sydney last travelled to Kardinia Park in 2019, but is one of the few teams to better the Cats at home during their most dominant periods.
In the Swans’ last four visits to GMHBA Stadium, they have notched three wins while holding Geelong to less than 90-points on all four occasions.
Duncan said the Cats are prepared for what Sydney could throw at them on Saturday night.
“It will be a hot contest,” he said.
“Every contest against Sydney is a challenging one, they’re a very well drilled side with John Longmire and his coaching staff up there.
“They had a great win on the weekend, despite being undermanned and they managed to find a way.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge, looking forward to getting our game going and getting it to the best standard we can.
“As I said, another challenge and one we’re looking forward to.”
Geelong will unfurl its 2022 premiership flag on Saturday night, providing an opportunity for the Cats faithful to enjoy the team’s recent success in their home opener, but Duncan says that the grand final result in which Geelong won by 81 points, will hold no influence on the clash this weekend.
“I don’t think it will have an impact, to be honest,’ he said.
“It’s a completely different season and there’s a lot of different personnel playing in the game as well. I think it’s just another challenging home and away season game, which most matches are at the moment.”
