Gerard Healy has put the heat on Geelong veteran Isaac Smith ahead of Friday night’s Qualifying Final clash against Port Adelaide.
Healy says Smith’s run and link between the arcs will be crucial in compensating for the loss of injured rebound defenders Tom Stewart and Zach Tuohy.
“If I’m going to put some heat on somebody at Geelong, Isaac Smith would be the one,” the Brownlow Medallist told Sportsday.
“Because I think he’s the person that takes the ball from the back to the front.”
Richmond great Matthew Richardson added: “I think he had to get even further back last week (against Melbourne).
“Because you obviously didn’t have (Tom) Stewart and they’ve lost that run from (Zach) Tuohy.”
The 32-year-old wingman has to “have the game of his season” if the Cats are to overcome the Power at Adelaide Oval, according to Hawthorn champion Jordan Lewis.
“From a Geelong point of view, both sides are really good at playing forward half footy. They get the ball in there, they’re able to set up their defensive structure behind the ball, it’s hard to get out,” Lewis told SEN Breakfast.
“If Geelong are penned in their back half, Isaac Smith for me becomes a really important player with Tuohy out and with Stewart out. He’s the link player.
“For me, he has to have the game of his season for them to overcome a Port Adelaide side at home.”
Lewis identified a weakness in Geelong’s defence that Port Adelaide could exploit.
“I think if you look at both sides, you speak about specific players that need to have a big game for them to have a win,” he said.
“When I look at Port Adelaide, I look at their small forwards in particular, I think the one knock on Geelong’s defence is if the ball is on the ground, that’s where they look their most vulnerable.
“You look at (Robbie) Gray, (Zak) Butters and (Connor) Rozee - those types of players I think can have a big impact.
“If you even look at last week’s game when (Mitch) Georgiades went down, they had to play a smaller forward line – they looked totally different, there was more space within the forward line, they entered their forward line differently.
“If they go with that, I think it’ll be a real challenge for Geelong to defend that.”
A Preliminary Final berth awaits Friday night’s winner.
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