Geelong sits a game clear atop the ladder, but they’ve lost three of their last five and Tim Watson sees a big flaw that could impact them come finals.
Hawthorn ruckman Ben McEvoy was best on ground in Sunday afternoon’s win over the Cats and Watson feels Geelong’s lack of a star ruckman is the crack in their armour.
“The one thing they can’t fix and I think it’s going to be their biggest concern in the second half of the season is their ruck department,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.
“You look at Ben McEvoy yesterday, he took them to the cleaners, he was outstanding against Rhys Stanley, they haven’t been able to fix that.
“That’s going to be their number one concern.
“We all understand you need big men, particularly a ruckman in finals that have a presence.
“McEvoy was fantastic. He pretty much did as he wanted and that’s going to be a major concern for the Cats.”
Rhys Stanley has held the ruck mantle for the Cats this year and has been serviceable, but has been monstered in recent weeks by the likes of McEvoy, Rowan Marshall, Reilly O’Brien and Scott Lycett – all of whom have been named in the bests.
They’ll get a reprieve from this issue on Sunday when they face a Sydney side that is currently using undersized youngster Hayden McLean and defender Aliir Aliir in the ruck.
They will have to go through Aaron Sandilands, Todd Goldstein, Stefan Martin and Matthew Kreuzer in the final month of the season, however.
Geelong has a number of more traditional ruck options on their list, including Zac Smith, Ryan Abbott and Darcy Fort.