An exciting opportunity awaits the Cats on Friday night as they prepare to take on the Gold Coast Suns, a team that is certainly turning heads with their rapid ascension into premiership contention.
Coming off a season where they reached the Finals for the first time, the Suns are predicted by many to be one of the strongest sides in the competition this year, stacked full of talent right across the ground.
The midfield battle will be crucial against the likes of Noah Anderson and Christian Petracca, but the Cats will also need to navigate past Sam Collins at full back while keeping Ben King quiet at the other end of the ground.
Weather could also play a role on Friday with up to 30mm of rain forecast for Carrara, which would shape the game in a different way and suit the classier ground level players on both teams.
Take a look through some of the key things to watch in Geelong's Opening Round clash, proudly presented by Deakin University.
2025 Ladder
Gold Coast: 7th (15-8)
Geelong: 2nd (17-6)
2025 Finals Results
Gold Coast
- Elimination Final: Fremantle 12.7 (79) def by Gold Coast 11.14 (80)
- Semi Final: Brisbane 14.16 (100) def Gold Coast 6.11 (47)
Geelong
- Qualifying Final: Geelong 16.16 (112) def Brisbane 11.8 (74)
- Preliminary Final: Geelong 17.13 (115) def Hawthorn 13.7 (85)
- Grand Final: Geelong 11.9 (75) def by Brisbane 18.14 (122)
2025 Points For
Gold Coast: 2300 (92 points per game)
Geelong: 2727 (104.9 points per game)
Points Against
Gold Coast: 1919 (76.8 points per game)
Geelong: 1995 (76.7 points per game)
Deakin Performance Stat of the Week
Restricting the Suns' Handball Game
Gold Coast had a very clear game plan last year and it proved to be successful, opting to prioritise handballing as their main source of ball movement.
Across the 2025 season, the Suns ranked third in the competition for handballs per game (157.4) and ranked second for metres gained by handballs.
But what was really interesting was that they also ranked 16th in the competition for kicks per game, recording the second lowest kick to handball ratio of any team in the AFL.
2025 AFL Team Stats
| Gold Coast | Statistic (Per Game) | Geelong |
| 194.6 (16th in AFL) | Kicks | 222.0 (2nd in AFL) |
| 157.4 (3rd) | Handballs | 129.7 (17th) |
| 286.8 (2nd) | Handball metres gained | 218.0 (5th) |
| 17.7 (1st) | Metres gained per disposal | 17.6 (2nd) |
By comparison, the Cats had the second highest kick to handball ratio of any team last year, a vastly different strategy but both were successful at different stages of the season.
Although practice games are not always an accurate representation, the Suns showed shades of a similar strategy as they recorded three more handballs than kicks in their clash with Brisbane. The Lions by comparison finished with 129 more kicks than handballs.
It is very much a run-and-gun style that Gold Coast choose to play, something the Cats will need to be wary of on Friday night.
How do you stop Noah Anderson?
There were not many players that had a better season than Gold Coast captain, Noah Anderson in 2025.
The star midfielder finished with the most disposals of any player in the competition last year, averaging a career-high 30.1 disposals per game.
His work around the contest was exceptional, with Anderson ranking fourth in the AFL for clearances and fifth for contested possessions, while also pushing the ball forward and finishing ninth for inside 50s.
Also proving to be damaging in Gold Coast's forward half, Anderson finished sixth in the competition for score involvements and second at Gold Coast for goal assists.
It all culminated in a sixth-place finish in the Brownlow Medal, quite a remarkable feat considering he split votes with teammate Matt Rowell, who took out the award.
With Rowell facing a delayed start to the season, Anderson's role will be pivotal on Friday night and stopping him would go a long way towards a positive result for Geelong.
Taking away the corridor
While Gold Coast utilise handballs to generate their ball movement, they are also exceptional at shifting the ball through the middle of the ground and exposing the corridor to move inside their forward 50.
In 2025, the Suns ranked first in the AFL for metres gained per disposal, also ranking first for total metres gained which showed their desire to always be moving forward.
They achieved all of this despite ranking 11th in the competition for total disposals per game, well below the AFL average across the season and showing a more quality over quantity approach.
With damaging players like Christian Petracca and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan joining the Suns over the off-season, expect these numbers to continue into 2026 and look for Geelong to try and push Gold Coast wide during Friday night's match.
