Expect Geelong to play a more unpredictable brand of footy in 2017, particularly when it comes to moving the ball out of the backline.

The Cats copped criticism at times during their 2016 campaign for moving the ball very slowly out of defence.

Although there won't be wholesale changes to this formula, which helped the team reach a preliminary final after all, returning defender Jackson Thurlow says being less predictable has been a focus during the pre-season.

"We still won a lot of games of footy last year," Thurlow said on the Christmas episode of PodCats.

"So I think it's just something we'll tinker with.

"We've been working on it so far this pre-season, so I guess you can look for a change in 2017.

"I don't think it will be as slow in 2017."