GEELONG’S game away to the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday night will present several firsts: The Suns’ first AFL game at their new home stadium, Geelong’s first game against the AFL’s 17th team.

But the one most people are thinking about, if not talking about, is the first on-field encounter between the Cats and their former superstar teammate Gary Ablett, who walked away in the off-season after two premierships and 192 games at Skilled Stadium.

The move to shun the club that is so synonymous with the Ablett surname via Gary Sr, Gary Jr and Nathan upset many Cats supporters, but you will not find any Geelong players worried about the past as they look for a ninth straight win.

``There are 21 other guys taking the field that we’re going to have to worry about so if we focus too much on Gaz we don’t focus on what we’ve got to do,’’ Cats defender Josh Hunt said. ``I guess it’s just going out there and you get an opponent, you beat your opponent and you help out your teammates.

``In a layman’s kind of way, that’s how we’ve got to look at it. We won’t be giving Gaz any sympathy. He’s another player and if he’s there to be tackled or he’s there to be dealt with then guys will. But I’m sure it’s no different for him. He’ll treat us as opposition and if he has a chance to do it he will, too. It’s just a matter of us trying to get the job done and trying to curb his influence and all the other guys as well. I think we just have to put in a real team effort.’’

The team ethic has been Geelong’s backbone for the past decade and it is one that has held the Cats in good stead during its unbeaten start to the 2011 season when some folks were tipping a downturn under new coach Chris Scott.

Far from a dip in fortunes, Geelong is sitting on top of the AFL ladder and eyeing a trip to the finals for the seventh time in the past eight years. Yet there is a feeling the Cats, although unbeaten this season, are yet to play their best football.

``We certainly haven’t played four quarters,’’ Hunt said. ``We’ve played patches of footy that have been pretty good. We might be 8-0, but we’ve won games by one point, two points, three points and 11 points so we could be sitting here saying we’re going well at 8-0 or we’re 4-4 or 6-2. There’s not a lot separating those things. But that helps us. We’ve won close games and we’re finding ways to win when we probably shouldn’t have, but I don’t think we’re anywhere near our best at the moment.’’

Which is good news for Geelong fans and bad news for the rest of the AFL and the Suns as they look to build on their two wins and try to surprise Geelong at Metricon Stadium after playing their initial home games at the Gabba in Brisbane.

With wins over Port Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions, the Suns have two more victories than some had predicted for the expansion franchise, so it will be anything than a cruisy evening on the Glitter Strip for the Cats. That said, Hunt, who has been impressed with the Suns’ collection of young players, would not have it any other way.

``You can’t take any games easy,’’ Hunt said. ``Gold Coast have shown if they get their tails up and get a bit of confidence they can do a lot of damage real quick and Brisbane and Port Adelaide found that out. They turn it on real quick and they can do as much damage as any side if you give them enough time and space and confidence. It’s definitely not one that we’re going to take lightly.’’

One reason Geelong has to be switched on from the first bounce is a lack of in-depth intelligence on the Suns. While Geelong’s astute coaching staff will have scouted the Suns’ personnel and strategies, the competition’s newest team does not have the long-term familiarity of other opponents.

Without that background of knowledge of habits and traits, Geelong is going into something of the unknown against the Suns and will be relying on its vast experience, unquestioned talent and massive team commitment to get on top and post a win.

``We’ve seen enough over the first eight rounds what the young kids can do if given plenty of time and space because they’re going to be great players,’’ Hunt said. ``But I think we’ve just got to snuff them out early and try to take their confidence out of the game and play it on our terms.

`` We can’t overlook the stuff we do well. We’ve shown and proven that our game plan stands up and if everyone plays their role and everyone does their job we’re going to win most of the time. It’s just one of those things that we try not to get too focused on the opposition because then we lose focus of what we’ve got to do.’’