BEFORE we take a look ahead to the Geelong game, I'd like to make mention of how well some of the older heads have performed in the extended absence of some of their esteemed teammates.

With guys like Bucks, Jimmy Clement and Presti missing for most of the year, we've had to bring in a few younger types probably ahead of schedule. By virtue of their excellent performances, a lot of these guys have received some pretty big wraps for the way they've adapted so quickly to the tempo of AFL footy.

But that wouldn't have been possible if some of the more senior members of the side weren't able to go about meeting their usual high standards – and in some cases lifting their game to a new level.

Some of these more experienced types have really have wound the clock back a couple of years – blokes like Scotty Burns, Tarkyn Lockyer, Shane O'Bree and Paul Licuria have led the way beautifully, and that has made the transition for the younger guys that much easier.

You can also add Shane Wakelin to that list, as he has come back after a few weeks out of the side and been exceptional ever since. He got a few decisions go against him on Fraser Gehrig at the weekend but he was terrific a couple of weeks before that when we matched him up on Barry Hall.

From a coaching point of view, it's such huge positive to see the guys at both ends of the list in terms of age and experience doing what we ask and expect of them.

It's great when you have that internal pressure on the side in terms of performance, and the guys know that a complete effort from go to whoa is expected. They know that if they drop off there is the possibility they might drop out of the side. So we are using that internal pressure as a positive.

Looking ahead to the weekend, well, what another exciting week for the club. First versus fourth on a Saturday afternoon at the MCG in front of what should be a huge crowd; it's the sort of game that really gets the juices flowing as a player, coach and fan.

Last week we saw our own boys lift after three-quarter time and the Cats did the same against Essendon a day earlier. The circumstances were probably a bit different, with the Cats taking advantage of a few injuries to their opposition, but it leaves you in no doubt that you can't afford to put your head up for a breather as this Geelong side will make you pay.

Geelong obviously have strengths all over the ground, but one area we'll be looking at closely is their midfield depth. They have a number of players who can go through there, and even when their A-grade midfield team isn't on they can replace them with what is probably close to another batch of A-graders.

So how do you manage something like this? Well, we have a few ideas we'll be discussing closer to game day but we'll consider a combination of things.

One way is that we can load up the backline if they are consistently winning the stoppages so we have them kick it to our advantage. Then we can counter them by running the ball from defence.

Or we can take an approach similar to the Sydney model by getting numbers around the stoppages and making them have to break one, two, three and four tackles to get the ball forward. That makes it pretty hard for them to move the ball with any authority.

So there are a couple of things we can try but what we do know is that we have to have players who are prepared to put their head over the ball from the first hit to the last hit.

Geelong's forwards have also been first-rate so we'll have to do our homework on them.

We don't hide from the fact that with two of our premier key defenders unavailable that might leave us a little bit vulnerable in height, but we think we can cover that by our attack on the ball-carrier, our match-ups and by being prepared to play selfless footy.