Different Geelong, Same Story | Thebigtip

If Friday's game has showed anything, it's that Geelong are still one of the best teams in the competition.

Despite having the oldest list in the league and their premiership coach and best player both leaving the club, the seemingly ageless Cats remain a genuine contender to take out their third premiership in five years.

It comes after a victorious outing against last year's premiers Collingwood to take new coach Chris Scott to an undefeated 7-0 record.

Geelong were clearly the better team. They won the inside 50s, the tackles, the marks and the disposals to put doubt in Collingwood's flag hopes. The only reason the game was so close was because of Geelong's inaccuracy.

The Cats' most impressive move that has been made recently is getting game time into the younger players – Duncan, Menzel, Christensen, Hunt and Guthrie – and when you look at their middle-aged players such as Selwood, Varcoe, Taylor, Byrnes and Blake, their future looks impressive. That has been great foresight from the coaching staff down at Kardinia Park.

The youngsters have added pace and electricity into the Geelong side, something that the older Cats lack. This balance has been key to their third 7-0 start in four years.

That and they've still got Bartel, Ling, Kelly, Corey, Scarlett, Enright, Ottens, Mackie, Wojcinski, Chapman, Hunt, Mooney, Podsiadly and Milburn too. Besides Mackie, who is 26, all of them are 27 and older, but they're all key players and they're all performing at their best.

To think that Collingwood was by a long distance the best team in the competition this year was ignorant, and Geelong have proved the doubters wrong. The loss of Ablett and Thompson was huge, no doubt, but Scott has arrived with a game plan that doesn't need a pack bursting, goal kicking gun like Ablett – the players he has are more than enough to work for him.

Ablett's departure could also come as a positive, as it spreads the heavy workload of Ablett more evenly. Now who do you tag? Bartel? Selwood? Chapman? Johnson? Any of their players can grab thirty possessions and kick five goals. In previous years, it was mainly about how many goals Ablett would kick and how many disposals Ablett would get. It's a win for Geelong from that point of view.

Because all their other players are so good at what they do, the loss of one player hasn't seemed to hurt the Cats. It just allows their younger players to step up and fill the void, and thankfully for Scott, they've more than succeeded at that.

Bartel has gotten even better. Duncan and Menzel have become key to the Geelong lineup. Varcoe is becoming a game breaker. Kelly's playing more midfield and enjoying it. Scarlett is loving his new role. The list goes on.

We're only a third of the way through the home and away season but to me, it looks like we'll see Geelong in another Grand Final yet.