THE Cats will be desperate to regain some momentum, hosting Melbourne in a Thursday night blockbuster to open Round 15 at Kardinia Park.
It will be another big challenge for Geelong with the in-form Demons fresh off a bye after a four-point win against premiership favourites Collingwood on the King’s Birthday.
Melbourne’s hoping its midfield will be bolstered by the return of Clayton Oliver, but the Dees aren’t willing to confirm his spot in the side after the star mid spent a week in hospital with a foot infection.
Cats tough-nut Tom Atkins said despite Oliver remaining on the sidelines, their midfield has still been in good form.
“They’re obviously going really well, Viney and Petracca and the likes,” Atkins said.
“We are looking forward to it, we really enjoy coming up against the best midfields.
Our change in personnel this year has opened up opportunities for guys like Tanner Bruhn and Max Holmes, it’s been super impressive to see how they have gone.
“It will be another great challenge for us this week, we can’t wait to bounce back.”
The last time the two sides met it was a 28-point win to the Cats in Round 17 last season, a win that saw Geelong’s premiership run ramp up.
Atkins said the Cats will look to get back to what they do best on Thursday night.
“It’s about going back to your strengths as an individual player,” he said.
“I think sometimes when things are going wrong like Thursday, you can try and do too much.
“I know personally, you can try to do everything but really you need to back to the things you are good at.
“Hopefully we can get a chance to show how good a midfield group we are.
“We’ve got new guys in there this year and they have really stepped up, so it will be good to see that this Thursday.”
By: Will Boddington
Twitter: @krockfootball
