Reigning premier Geelong’s premiership defence has ebbed and flowed so far in 2023.
Three straight defeats in the opening three rounds led many football fans to jump off the bandwagon before five consecutive wins by an average margin of 55 points saw them rocket back into premiership contention.
But in the last two weeks the Cats have lost to Richmond and Fremantle respectively and sit at seventh on the ladder with a 5-5 record, four wins behind first-placed Collingwood and two wins out of the top four.
However, Hawthorn premiership captain Luke Hodge believes that due to the lengthy injury list at GMHBA Stadium, the Cats shouldn’t be too heavily scrutinised for their performances... just yet.
“If you look through the list that they have out injured at the moment (Jack) Bowes, (Sam) De Koning, (Patrick) Dangerfield, (Ollie) Henry, (Sam) Menegola, (Gary) Rohan, (Rhys) Stanley, (Cam) Guthrie you look through them all and that’s a fair line-up,” Hodge told SEN's Sportsday.
“I know people say ‘well Collingwood have had their injuries’, Collingwood’s depth is a lot better than Geelong’s is.
“The list is getting older but what they did last off-season is they went out and went after (Tanner) Bruhn, Bowes, Ollie Henry and they got younger guys into the club to try and rebuild this list and get depth into it.
“I would give them a few more weeks and wait for the senior guys to get back before I start to go hammering at Geelong.”
Geelong is also without draftee Jhye Clark (foot), veteran Mitch Duncan (hamstring) and emerging midfielder Max Holmes (knee).
The Cats are expected to return to the winners’ list when they take on GWS at their GMHBA Stadium fortress on Saturday afternoon.