Geelong VFL coach Leigh Tudor this week directed the blowtorch towards his side’s haphazard skills in a bid to end the Cats’ three-match losing streak on Sunday against Bendigo at Queen Elizabeth Oval.

As the Cats last night welcomed back four players to the undermanned squad that went down to Casey last week, Tudor insisted the need for vast improvements in his side’s skills and decision-making.

The Cats are precariously in eighth position on the VFL ladder after a lean three-match run that has seen them drop from the top four after three second-half fade-outs.

“Obviously we’ll need a massive improvement from last week where we actually won the stoppages but we didn’t use the ball well from the stoppages,” Tudor said.

“We would expect our on-ballers to improve in that, our stoppage work has been a focus for us week to be honest, so that would be an area we would want to improve on this weekend.

“We did some edits throughout the week with the AFL boys and some edits with the VFL boys and we’ll just keep working on our structures and playing our roles.”

In a welcome return to the undermanned Cats, Tom Hawkins has been named, while Dan McKenna, Scott Simpson and Brodie Moles are all in line to return from injury this week.

The trio must get through tomorrow morning’s final training session to prove their fitness ahead of the road trip to Bendigo.

McKenna, a key-position prospect, missed last week with soreness, while Simpson, who is leading the Cats’ goal kicking with 17, is returning after four weeks out following minor knee surgery.

Moles, a first-year rookie, has missed the last two matches after failing to overcome an ankle injury sustained against Coburg four weeks ago.

Defender David Johnson and VFL-listed midfielder Matt Firman will again be sidelined with hamstring injuries, while first-year ruckman Dawson Simpson has been rested for the second week.

Johnson has been unable to shrug the injury he sustained against North Ballarat three weeks ago, while Firman will again miss due to the injury he suffered playing for Victoria two weeks ago.

Geelong will boast a formidable ruck duo this weekend, with Shane Mumford and Trent West, who both looked in good touch last week, set to control the aerial scene for the Cats.

Tudor said the Mumford-West tandem was not only a luxury to have in the ruck, but it also meant the side had more flexibility around the ground.

“They’ve both been winning hit outs. Westy played a little bit more down back last week, so with both playing it’s been good to be able to get more game time into them in different positions as well,” he said.

“Mumford can go forward and Westy can go back and vise-versa and we can really try and see them in different positions.

“They need to play a role and they need to beat their opponent if they’re playing as a back man, or as a forward, and it’s just a good chance for them to spend more time on the ground as well.”

Tudor said 11th-placed Bendigo, coming off a solid victory over Box Hill last week, was always a tough prospect at home.

“They’re a pretty tall side, they’ve got a few players on the way back from injury as well,” he said.

“They had a really good win last week against Box Hill, so they would be really keen to win another game in a row, especially on their home ground.”

The action gets underway from 2pm.