LACHIE Henderson will return for the Cats against Gold Coast on Saturday night, but the Cats are yet to declare who will make way for the Carlton recruit.
Geelong rested Henderson last week, and Corey Enright the week before, while Tom Lonergan missed round three against the Brisbane Lions with a niggly calf.
Key defenders Andrew Mackie and Harry Taylor have played every game this season as has veteran Jimmy Bartel, with Geelong coach Chris Scott conceding that because the team was free of injury the Cats "might have to manufacture something".
"We've got a plan and we try to stick to that as much as possible, but it needs to be fluid," Scott said.
"A lot depends on the opposition, what their form is like, who their dangerous players are, who is feeling good within our list and who is a little bit off."
Scott said Lonergan was the obvious match-up for in-form Gold Coast forward Tom Lynch, who has kicked 22 goals in five games, but said he was confident Taylor and Henderson could do the job if required.
He said Lynch was such a fine player it would be up to the team to limit his supply rather than merely hoping the match-up was right.
"We really respect and rate Tom Lynch," Scott said.
He said the Cats ranked the Suns as a dangerous unit, harking back to round three last season when last-quarter heroics from skipper Joel Selwood got them across the line by just nine points.
"They're a dangerous team. They [have] played some good footy this year and they present a significant threat," Scott said.
Geelong has conceded just 332 points this season, with only the Western Bulldogs giving up less.
It is also in the top three teams for conceding the fewest points from defensive and forward half turnovers.
Scott said a combination of factors made the team hard to score against, but added that Taylor was nearly in career best form and the back six or seven were all performing well.
He said the deeper midfield also allowed them to restrict the opposition inside 50 numbers.
"It's always a combination," Scott said.
Just 14 Cats have played every game so far this season, with Gold Coast the only other team sitting in the top eight to have played fewer.
Gold Coast (13) and Greater Western Sydney (14) lag behind established clubs Hawthorn, the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs (all 16), West Coast (17) and North Melbourne (19) in the number of players to have appeared in every game this season.
Meanwhile the Cats coach admitted that vision of his confrontation with Port Adelaide midfielder Hamish Hartlett at quarter-time of Saturday night's game may have been a bad look.
Scott said he had a convivial conversation with AFL football operations manager Mark Evans during the week about how the footage might be perceived. "There is a level of contrition there, because I accept there is a perception that it is a bad look," Scott said.
"Often the perception doesn't represent the reality, which is the case in this situation."
Port Adelaide's Hartlett said there was little in the incident when he spoke on Adelaide radio on Wednesday.
