Cats happy with ruck stocks
Geelong will fight fire with fire in the ruck against West Coast at Simonds Stadium on Saturday night, with coach Chris Scott saying the Cats are finally in a position to attack against Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui.
Geelong will take Hamish McIntosh, Dawson Simpson and Mark Blicavs into the clash of two unbeaten sides.
Last year the inexperienced Nathan Vardy and Blicavs did the ruckwork against the Eagles and eighth-gamer Orren Stephenson played as the solo big man in 2012.
"It probably means we can take them on head-on more than we have in the past," Scott said.
"When you take on two really good ruckmen - or three really good ruckmen in West Coast's case - and you don't really have a genuine ruckman yourself, then you spend a lot of time trying to mitigate the damage.
"While we have a healthy respect for their guys, we also have a lot of faith in our big guys as well. We think we can at least break even in a lot of those contests, so that gives you a better chance to set up the way you would like at ground level."
Geelong boast a 131-100 advantage in hit-outs this season, but have lost the clearances 112-110.
It's an improvement on last year when the Cats lost the hit-outs 1060-881 and the clearances 972-856.
Geelong could be strengthened by the return of brilliant defender Corey Enright from injury and tagger Taylor Hunt from suspension.
Eagles vice-captain Scott Selwood remains in doubt for the trip with an ankle injury.
The 24-year-old was restricted to walking laps at training yesterday and could join a list of outs, including Mark LeCras (arm), Chris Masten (hamstring) and Luke Shuey, who yesterday accepted a one-game ban for striking.
Sharrod Wellingham completed training and should return to the side after being a late withdrawal with soreness against St Kilda.
