The Cats are up on the Gold Coast this weekend in pursuit of their 12th win in succession against a Suns team who’ve fallen out of touch with the finals after last weekend’s loss against Hawthorn.

So what do we make of this game?

Even during wins Geelong are finding areas of their game to work on so they’ll see this as another opportunity to keep moving the season forward, and with a relatively healthy list, players will be playing for their spot in the September 22.

For the Cats, the popular Zach Guthrie will play his 50th game for the club after six years on the list. A mighty achievement. 

A couple of things to look out for when the ball is bounced at 4.35pm on Saturday.

Gold Coast Form Guide

If you watched last weekend’s slim loss to Hawthorn it’s difficult to know which Suns side will show up this weekend.

At the major break, they were down eight in the clearances and contested possessions and 21 on the scoreboard, before turning in a +24 in contest and +8 in clearances performance to fall just 7 points. There are plenty of stars in the Gold Coast sky, and the Cats will be ready for their best and brightest to be on display this Saturday. 

Metricon Stadium 

Geelong has lost to the Suns twice over the past 11 years and perhaps unsurprisingly both games have been at Metricon, where the Suns are 40-72 since 2011.

Incidentally, the first game at the old Carrara between the two sides was back in Round 10 of that season where Geelong won by 66 points, so it's not clear how much the ground, which has very different dimensions to GMHBA Stadium (as most do), has to do with the outcome.

Geelong did split its 2020 games at the ground, losing to Richmond and beating the Swans by 26 and six points respectively.

Rewind 2022: Guth's Grind

The Big Guns

Tom Stewart was uncharacteristically quiet last weekend against St. Kilda (18 disposals, two marks) in his second game back from suspension after a solid showing against the Dogs in Round 20 (22-10).  

However, in his four games against the Suns he’s averaged 24 touches (equal highest career figure) and nine marks, which is also in the top couple, so expect this to be the game that we see the All-Australian high flyer start hitting his stride as we close in on the end of the home and away season.  

Equally, after missing last week Patrick Dangerfield will look to be back to his bullocking best against a Gold Coast side that historically, he loves to play against. His career average of 27 touches a game sits second to only Adelaide and Hawthorn.

With September in the air, you can bet the Cats' biggest guns will be firing this weekend in Queensland.