YES:
It has become an annual pre-season ritual to write off Geelong, and those that do are soon made to regret it. The safest move for so long has been to pencil the Cats into the top four even if your every instinct tells you that this is the year they come crashing down.

Nevertheless, even the most devoted Geelong loyalists would have their concerns entering the 2015 season. Last year's straight sets finals elimination highlighted several issues and it remains to be seen whether they were adequately addressed in the off-season. 

The Cats weren’t as quick last year and then lost both Travis Varcoe to Collingwood and Allen Christensen to the Brisbane Lions. They got Sam Blease over from Melbourne and he has pace to burn, but the defensive side of his game needs to vastly improve if he is to make Geelong's best 22. 

Another area of concern for the Cats comes at the coalface. Yes, they have the magnificent Joel Selwood, but they still ranked last in the AFL last year for clearances and stoppages. There was a time when Selwood would win games for Geelong but as his supporting cast diminishes over time, he is merely keeping them in games for longer. 

The Cats were over-relient on Tom Hawkins last year, which they hope will be addressed by the recruitment of Rhys Stanley and Mitch Clark. Another concern is the health and fitness of a playing group whose star factor is getting on in years. Steve Johnson is already experiencing foot soreness, not for the first time in his career. 

It will be a tougher road for the Cats in 2015 and a top four finish appears unlikely. But we have said that before and been made to look the fool. – Ashley Browne

NO:
So why bow down to the conformists, Ash?

Why not, instead, follow the lead of the late Robin Williams and "swim against the stream" as he so effectively illustrated in the famous courtyard scene in Dead Poet's Society.

Geelong may not be as dominant as it once was, but Chris Scott's men remain fiercely competitive and regularly serve it up to the best sides in the AFL.

The club's veterans such as Jimmy Bartel, James Kelly and Corey Enright continue to perform at a high level and Geelong's young guns including Mitch Duncan, Josh Caddy and Steven Motlop are already proving they can be match winners.

It would be easy to argue that Joel Selwood, Tom Hawkins and Harry Taylor rank inside the top 10 best players in the competition, while Stevie J may actually win a Brownlow one day. If only, like we are taught at primary school, he would keep his hands to himself.

The inside word is Mitch Clark has trained the house down this pre-season (before a slight calf strain) and any forward line with Hawkins and Clark is going to present some problems.

The Cats have been open about why the club needs to build for the future, but they have remained steadfast that that won't be at the expense of the present.

If the veterans hum along at a similar level to what they produced last year and the club's emerging youngsters develop at the rate the club expects them to, the Cats are a very real chance of stamping themselves as premiership contenders.  

This is a proud group, stocked with driven individuals who know what it takes to win not just games, but flags as well. – Ben Guthrie