GEELONG coach Chris Scott has thrown down the challenge to his team to eliminate fade-outs in order to become a serious contender. 

The Cats became renowned for their lapses in 2016 and their season ended after the Swans blew them away in the first quarter of the preliminary final. 

There have been signs of a similar trend during the JLT Community Series with Geelong playing either scintillating or ordinary football from quarter to quarter. 

Speaking at the Cats' season launch, Scott told supporters the team needed to become more consistent that it had been in 2016.

"We want to keep pushing the boundaries, play adventurous footy, really test ourselves [and] put ourselves on the line and try to get rid of the rubbish that we served up too often to be a really good team," Scott said.

The Cats bounced back hard in 2016 after missing finals in 2015, rising from 10^th to third and winning 17 games during the home and away season. 

Scott said it indicated that at their best, the Cats were good enough to beat any team.

However the challenge remained as to whether they could maintain it for four quarters.

"We just let ourselves down in big moments too often and to be frank we've seen that during the pre-season series as well," Scott said. 

"We have seen some exciting and encouraging signs through patches of game but we have seen some pretty average stuff as well. 

The Cats open the season against Fremantle and will head into the game with Joel Selwood as captain for the sixth year in succession after announcing its leadership group on Wednesday. 

Mitch Duncan and Tom Stewart were cleared of hamstring trouble and should be available while Cam Guthrie is likely to play in the VFL practice match on Friday night as he returns from a calf injury suffered in the opening JLT game.