It’ll be 15 days between games once the Cats run out onto Optus Stadium on Saturday, but as Chris Scott said earlier this week, Geelong expects to face a very different West Coast outfit to the one we’ve seen in the early part of the season.

It's been a challenging year of the Eagles, but this week, they’ll welcome back a host of prime movers, including premiership stars Jeremy McGovern, Willie Rioli, Elliot Yeo and Dom Sheed.

In that context, the standard, ‘where is it won or lost’ question got a somewhat different response from the Cats' senior coach this week:

“We need to take away their strengths to an extent,” he said.

But then this:

“We generally tend to be a team that focuses on what we do, but this week warrants just a little bit more depth of research into the distant history with the names they’ve got coming back.”

"It wasn't long ago that they were one of the top teams in the competition and the most obvious change since then is a lack of continuity with personnel. And that seems to be back.

"It's hard to know exactly whether they're going to be the same as they were back then. But I think it's more likely that there will be the sort of 2018 version or 2019 version rather than the 2022 version."

It’s unique but warranted; this week’s Eagles will not look like the one currently sitting in last place on the AFL ladder with a percentage of 50.7%, and the Cats are planning accordingly.

So how that plays out, we’ll find out soon

Here are a couple of things to look out for once the ball is bounced at 4.35pm:

The Geelong Defence

Tom Stewart has been cleared to return after copping a head knock against the Bulldogs a fortnight ago, a gap that was more than ably filled by the rapidly improving Zach Guthrie.

But Stewart is arguably the best defender in the game, and if you add in a returning Jake Kolodjashni, the home team's ability score becomes much harder.

In Round 12 they went forward 44 times, which was five up on their season average of 39 inside 50s. For context, most teams are getting into their strike zone somewhere between 50 and 58 times per game this season.

Another Tomahawk Milestone

At the other end of the ground, Geelong forward Tom Hawkins will be sitting on 698 career goals when the ball is bounced on Saturday.

As selfless a player as we know the big Hawk is, he would have seen Jeremy Cameron snag his 500th against the Bulldogs two weeks ago and will be very hungry for his own slice of the pie.

No one wants to be a key defender when the big forwards are eyeing off milestones like that, no matter who you play for.

Travelling Cats

This will be just the third time in four years Geelong has played West Coast at Optus Stadium, for two, albeit tight, losses. Overall, they’re three wins from eight games since the stadium opened in 2018. Not bad, but not great either.

It’s shorter and wider than GMHBA Stadium back in Geelong, but with the Cats also training at the much bigger Deakin University Elite Sports Precinct in Waurn Ponds, the Cats are as well prepared a club as there is.

In short, when the Cats are at their best, they’re a tough match-up, whatever the postcode. 

WEST Coast turned a corner, but it wasn't enough to see off the experience of Geelong as the Cats climbed back into the top-four with an 18-point win at Optus Stadium on Saturday.

In the week that the Eagles celebrated the 30th anniversary of their inaugural premiership, the team lifted to the occasion, but Geelong steadied late to win 12.9 (81) to 9.9 (63).  

It was a game that felt like it had two winners, with the Cats extending their winning run to four games as they prepare to make an assault on the premiership, and the Eagles proving they will be a different proposition in the second-half of the season.

Only 11 points separated the teams halfway through the final term when West Coast midfielder Connor West converted a long set shot to give the last-placed Eagles a sense of hope.

But it was star Geelong forward Tom Hawkins who settled the result, however, when he held his nerve to cap off a day in which he kicked his 700th career goal, becoming only the 26th VFL/AFL player to achieve the milestone.

Geelong midfielders Cameron Guthrie (25 disposals and 13 tackles) and Joel Selwood (24 and six clearances) were strong performers, while small forward Tyson Stengle booted three goals to prove the difference in the match.

The Cats also had a significant advantage in the ruck, with Mark Blicavs and Rhys Stanley combining to give them a 44-26 advantage in hit-outs and 38-29 in clearances.

As much the Eagles had arguably their best team on paper for the season, they lost their best performer pre-game to illness in Tim Kelly, and Jeremy McGovern suffered a rib injury that ended his day before half-time.

From their youngest player in debutant Rhett Bazzo, however, to their oldest in champion forward Josh Kennedy, the Eagles fought and scrapped all day to make the match a contest.

Premiership star Elliot Yeo (22 and 11 rebound 50s) returned to play a new role across half-back and was excellent, with midfield pair Andrew Gaff (27) and Jack Redden (24 and seven clearances) fighting at the coalface.   

The hallmarks of an upset were there early as West Coast brought good pressure to the contest and let its ball movement flow from there, taking more risks than it has this season.

The Eagles kept pace with their fancied opponents for the majority of the first term, but three straight goals either side of quarter-time from the Cats saw them break away to a 25-point lead.

It was then that star defender McGovern left the ground after cannoning into Jeremy Cameron's hip, putting the Eagles in a vulnerable position.

The team lifted again, however, going on a thrilling four-goal run, with Kennedy, Jake Waterman and Jamie Cripps all converting set shots in a four-minute burst. 

Returning speedster Jack Petruccelle then snapped a brilliant goal in traffic to level scores as half-time approached.

The Cats put their match-winning gap in the game early in the third quarter with a three-goal run, including Hawkins' 700th, which came after a free kick inside 50.

They extended the lead to 24 points deep in the quarter to set too big a challenge for the home side, who didn't stop trying to mount what would have been a thrilling upset. 

WEST COAST      2.3   6.5    8.6     9.9 (63)
GEELONG           4.4    6.5   11.6   12.9 (81)

GOALS
West Coast: Waterman 2, Kennedy 2, Cripps 2, Petruccelle, Rioli, West
Geelong: Stengle 3, Hawkins 3, Menegola 2, Cameron, Close, Duncan, Smith

BEST
West Coast: Yeo, Redden, Gaff, Barrass, Shuey, Cripps
Geelong: Guthrie, Selwood, Stengle, Blicavs, Cameron, Menegola

INJURIES
West Coast: McGovern (ribs)
Geelong: Nil

LATE CHANGES
West Coast: Tim Kelly (illness) replaced in selected side by Jackson Nelson
Geelong: Nil  

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Greg Clark (replaced McGovern in the second quarter)
Geelong: Francis Evans (unused)