IT WAS just eight matches ago Geelong played Gold Coast at the Suns' home ground and made them look like schoolboys up against men.

Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins and Tyson Stengle all profited inside 50, Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood dominated at stoppages, while Mark Blicavs and Max Holmes ran relentlessly as the Cats overwhelmed their feisty opponent by 60 points.

This was in round 22, 2022, the 12th of what would become 16 consecutive victories to storm the Cats to a flag.

On Sunday, things could hardly have been more different, though.

Aside from Cameron's customary high standard, the Cats looked a shell of the team that stormed to a premiership last September, as they spluttered to a third consecutive loss to start 2023.

Post-match coach Chris Scott was calm – he should be, there's 20 home and away matches remaining and he wins at a clip greater than any coach in this competition in history - but he also gave a warning.

"There's very little chance we'll overreact. But you also need to react," Scott said.

"It's not a matter of saying 'she'll be right'. There are some parts of our game that are off and we need to fix them as fast as we can."

The noticeable change is personnel. Selwood has retired, defensive anchor Jack Henry (foot) is missing, as is Jake Kolodjashnij (concussion) who is due back this week.

Sam De Koning has been in the wars each of the three matches, including a heavy head clash with Nick Holman on Sunday that forced him to be subbed out of the game.

Tom Hawkins is a worry. The champion with 735 goals from 330 games barely had a pre-season following foot surgery. The Cats initially hinted he would struggle to be right for the start of the season, but as round one approached, dropped some bread crumbs that he was a chance to play.

He's kicked three goals from three games and was soundly beaten by Sam Collins in his most recent outing.

BARRETT Hawkins emblematic of Geelong's very real problems

Hawkins wasn't the only one to get off-season surgery, with Sam Menegola (knee) and Jed Bews (shoulder) in the same boat.

The form of other premierships stars is down. Gryan Miers and Brad Close, so instrumental to success last year with their ability to sprint between the 50m arcs and overwhelm opponents with numbers, just didn't play with the same intensity against the Suns.

Stengle is nowhere near the level he rocketed to last season to win an All-Australian jacket and kick four goals in a breathtaking Grand Final outing.

He was part of a forward group against Gold Coast that let Lachie Weller, Darcy Macpherson and Wil Powell easily transition the ball out of defence.

Tom Atkins, sixth in last year's best and fairest and a revered leader at the Cattery, is working hard, but not quite with the same impact as last year as Scott figures out his new midfield rotation.

Statistics provided by Champion Data show the Cats have a few leaks that need to be plugged.

Perhaps the most alarming is their work around the contest.

Last year Geelong was ranked in the top five in both contested possession differential and clearance differential. Through three weeks this has plummeted to 17th in both categories.

The disjointed defensive group hasn't gelled either. Esava Ratugolea has joined the mix, while Ollie Henry and Blicavs have been asked to plug holes there on occasions when Scott would rather deploy them in other parts of the ground.

It has led to the Cats being bottom four for scores against from inside 50s.

The defenders are getting little help from up-field though, with Geelong ranked 15th for the frequency opponents move the ball from their defensive 50 to their forward 50.

The benchmark club for so long was lauded for another terrific off-season, landing Henry, Jack Bowes and Tanner Bruhn – along with the draft rights to select No.8 pick Jhye Clark – at minimal cost going the other way.

New skipper Dangerfield – still searching for his first win in charge – is understandably much like his coach, cool and calm.

"It's been uber-successful for a long period," he told media on Tuesday. "We've had a lot of change from last year, so there's a huge amount of hunger.

"The challenge we have at the moment is the confidence, and that's clear for any team that struggles with consistency and struggles with wins."

Whether it's desire, integrating these new faces or too many missing too much of the pre-season due to injury, there's been a disconnect around the ground both with and without the ball.

It's only three weeks, and the Cats showed last year the value of progressing as the season wore on, but Scott and his players have more than a few spot-fires to put out.

Upcoming matches against battling Hawthorn and West Coast might be just the place to build continuity and consistency.

Geelong in the contest

Geelong's defence

Geelong's offence

Geelong's territory game