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The last AFL side to beat Geelong had a forward line with no standout marking option and three speedy indigenous players as crumbing options.
Five weeks after small forwards Eddie Betts, Chris Yarran and Jeff Garlett helped Carlton upset the Cats by 36 points, Geelong’s defence will face a similar opposition set-up when they host Melbourne on Saturday at Skilled Stadium.
Injuries have forced the Demons to be as multi-faceted as possible this season with their scoring options.
“They’re maybe a little like Carlton, in the way they’ve got those three indigenous guys (Jamie) Bennell, (Austin) Wonaeamirri and (Aaron) Davey roll through there at times,” said Cats key defender Tom Lonergan.
“They have a bit of pace in the team.
“We’ve just got to work on our structures and hopefully they hold up and also we can win our fair share of ball out of the midfield, too.”
A hamstring injury means the Geelong defence will also be without Matthew Scarlett, arguably the best fullback in the game’s history.
But one of the keys to Geelong’s greatness is that they are in a permanent state of development.
The retirement of captain Tom Harley has given Lonergan his chance to settle into a key defensive role and he has made an encouraging start to the season.
Josh Hunt has also impressed since returning from a knee reconstruction.
Even without Scarlett, there are no weak links.
“He’s a great player, (but) we just try to do our best as a backline group and try to stop the opposition kicking goals,” Lonergan said of Scarlett.
“We’ll go about it the way we usually do and there’s still plenty of experience down there, plenty of good players – we’ll be fine.
“It’s the team – we don’t just work on it as a back six, the whole 22 players try to contribute in some part.”
Geelong’s defence smothered Collingwood last Friday night in their MCG blockbuster.
Magpie forwards such as Travis Cloke, Alan Didak and Leon Davis all went goalless as the Cats pulled away in the second half to make a firm early-season statement.
Lonergan is pleased with his form so far this season, but has been through too much to read too much into it.
There was his well-documented kidney injury late in the 2006 season, which nearly killed him, and then the long comeback.
Of Geelong’s three grand finals, the only one Lonergan has played in is the losing one two years ago.
“Obviously, it would be fantastic if it could happen (playing in a premiership side), but we all know in footy, there are no fairy tales – although at times, they say there are,” he said.
“It would have been nice in 2008 to have won that grand final, but it wasn’t to be.
“This year, it’s going along alright, but we still have a long way to go.”
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