SECOND-YEAR Cat Zach Guthrie is readying himself to defend a range of opponents when the siren sounds in round one at the MCG.

Guthrie told the Geelong Advertiser that the requirements of the modern game mean that flexibility is required at the defensive end.

 “You could end up on guys like (Essendon forward) Joe Daniher when Harry rolls up, and we do play a team defence so there is probably no one in particular,” he said.

“You probably need to develop that flexibility to be able to play on a range of taller guys and smaller guys, so there could be a couple in the mix.”

Guthrie believes another pre-season out on the track will help him when he’s shoulder to shoulder with the AFL’s talls.

“The more practice you get, like anything, you get better at it and I’ve had another pre-season where I’ve been able to practice a lot of times a week,” he said.”

“I’ve had some good teammates around me to help me in that respect and the more comfortable I become in the side I will improve on those sorts of things.”

He’s also hoping to carry on the time-honoured defensive tradition of the club.

“Geelong has probably always had a strong culture (of defence) and that was set back in the days of Scarlo and Boris Enright.”

“They have always brought that defensive mentality and we take our defence pretty seriously across the whole board. It’s probably seen as one of our priorities and will always be a strength of our team.”