Geelong midfielder Tom Atkins signed a two-year contract extension recently, but his mind is firmly on tackling Gold Coast at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
The 29-year-old will come up against Suns’ stars Matt Rowell, Touk Miller and Noah Anderson.
“Obviously Anderson has probably been the standout,” Atkins said.
“His last month has been awesome, then Rowell and Touk are really consistent players. We will have a challenge, it is always a challenge but we feel like we have been going pretty well as well.
“It is more about how can we nullify their strengths but amplify ours, we will look forward to them in the next couple of days.”
The Cats were challenged by bottom of the ladder West Coast on Sunday and Atkins said coach Chris Scott remained calm at three-quarter time when the game was up for grabs.
“Scotty never shows his frustration, it is always a very forward looking mindset,” he said.
“We still had a quarter of footy left and he was just reminding us that we are one of the best fourth quarter teams in the competition.
“It is not just going to happen, we need to go out there and get it done and that is what eventuated.
“It is nice to have a calm mindset knowing that if you put in the effort, you can execute.”
Atkins said the Cats were in a good position at the halfway mark of the season.
“We have had some tough games, but I feel like every game we have been in it,” he said.
“There hasn’t been a game that we have played where I felt like we couldn’t have won at some point.
“That is probably the most pleasing thing, that we have been able to stay in games and at times we have executed.
“Our last three weeks have been really enjoyable, hopefully we can carry that through.”
Geelong takes on the Gold Coast Suns at 4.15pm on Saturday June 7 at GMHBA Stadium.
