During the pre-season, almost to a man, every Geelong player interviewed spoke about how flawless the pre-season had been.
Save for Cam Guthrie’s quad issue in the opening moments of the practice match against Carlton and a back problem impacting Gary Rohan, the Cats experienced players made the most of an extended buildup to the season.
Mitch Duncan was confident Geelong was well-placed for a quick return to the finals after watching on in September last year.
Four weeks into the season, with the Cats one of only three undefeated teams, Duncan and his teammates’ optimism is proving to be on point.
“You never really know how you’re going to perform,” Duncan said. “I was listening to Scotty’s (coach Chris Scott) press conference the other day; we were optimistic we could be 4-0.
“But we have won some close games – we could be 1-3.
“We’re still working on things, and we’re still continuing to grow as a group.
“We’ve got some young guys playing great footy at the moment, and same with some of the experienced players as well.”
Duncan, who will qualify for AFL life membership when he runs out against North Melbourne, says even contributions have been vital in the victories over St Kilda, Adelaide, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs.
“As well as a couple of great individual performances through those games as well,” he said.
“I think that’s playing a massive part.
“Obviously, we’re really well coached by Scotty and his team, which I think plays a massive part as well.
“It’s pleasing that we’re 4-0, but (we’ve) still got a mountain of work to do.”
Geelong should improve to 5-0 when it hosts the Kangaroos at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
However, Duncan has been around long enough to know that Alistair Clarkson’s young team can cause an upset.
“They’ve got an exciting young midfield that are going to be hard to play against,” he said.
“There might be fluctuations through games. But at some stage, it’s all going to click, and it’s going to be a four-quarter performance.
“Every AFL game is hard, and I think it’s only getting harder despite the speed of the game and the way everyone’s attacking.
“If you’re off defensively as a unit, it can really come back to bite you.
“We work really hard during the week to perform at a high level each week, and we continue to do that.”