Do Geelong have the levers to pull back their dire form?

Geelong’s form has become an issue for Chris Scott, and this time around, it could be an issue that is too great to fix before it’s too late.

Having suffered three straight losses with just one win in their last six games, the Cats have slipped out of the top eight for the first time since Round 8, nestling in ninth after a 13-point loss to the Giants on Saturday.

While injuries have played - and will continue to play - a role in their turn of form, Scott may lack the personnel needed to sustain Geelong’s suffocating forward-half pressure.

Premiership coach Adam Simpson did a deep dive into some of their concerning numbers over their dire six-week stretch.

“The first half, the domination they had, they didn’t capitalise. The second half, it started pretty early on,” Simpson told SEN’s Whateley.

“They kicked four goals in the second half, to 17 shots for the Giants.

“Front half football seems to be their thing; they had 21 front half turnovers in the first half for 10 shots, plus 19 inside 50s, 64 per cent time in forward half – system is standing up. That’s not personnel.

“In the second half, they had seven forward half turnovers. When they don’t get that game going, the rest of it is not healthy.

“Whether it’s the clearance, the stoppages – if they don’t get that field position, they seem to be a little bit off in a lot of phases.

“(They are) relying on Patrick Dangerfield to kick five every week, Jeremy Cameron is out of form and now he’s out of the team with injury.

“Playing him at half back got him the ball, but if I’m coaching against Geelong, I’m going, ‘you can do what you want behind the ball, I just don’t want you kicking 10 against us’.

“There’s a bit of work to do there. They are currently ninth on the ladder – we’re talking about them not playing finals with six weeks to go.

“I don’t think we can just lean into the injuries, ‘no surprise they got run over’… it was coming anyway is what I thought, and now they don’t have the levers to pull it back.”

Geelong are no strangers to being written off. As recently as 2022, the Cats were touted as ‘too old’ before going on to win a premiership.

The same was said in 2025, before reaching yet another Grand Final.

However, this scenario isn’t quite the same struggle that the Cats are used to.

“It used to be, Geelong have had a bad quarter, you’ve got 13 points on them. That used to be a bad quarter,” Simpson continued.

“Maybe three goals, but you’re never going to kick five or six against them.

“That’s what’s happened over the last couple of weeks in particular. The last five weeks really, there’s a quarter with a five-goal lead.

“We saw it in the first quarter the week before, and on the weekend in the second half, it was a combination of the two quarters.

“Their bad has gotten worse. They just can’t hold the line for 20 minutes with Tom Stewart just doing his thing, calming things down and saving the day a little bit. It’s not happening as much this year.

“They might turn it around – I’ve been proven wrong with this team a lot.”

All eyes will be firmly on the hoops tonight as they take on a St Kilda side eyeing off a spot in September.