GEELONG tall Rhys Stanley will replace suspended forward Tom Hawkins for Thursday night's clash at Domain Stadium against West Coast.

It wil be the 26-year-old's first game since the Cats' round eight loss to Essendon and just his fifth match for the season.

Cats coach Chris Scott said the forced inclusion of Stanley gave the Cats extra ruck flexibility if needed and a deep target forward.

However, he indicated the initial plan was for Stanley to play a similar role to Hawkins inside the forward 50, and not too many adjustments would be required because of the change.

"I don't think there is much of a flow-on effect, at least in a negative sense," Scott said. 

Stanley kicked five goals in round 19 last season against the Western Bulldogs, but has mainly played as a ruckman in tandem with Zac Smith and Mark Blicavs since arriving at the Cats in 2015.

Scott said although Stanley was recruited as a ruckman who could play forward he was a genuine 50/50 split when it came to his rucking and forward capabilities.

The challenge for Stanley, he said, was to become proficient enough in both roles to command a spot in the team as either a ruck or key forward.

"We would like to think that he could play so well as a key forward that he demands that spot in isolation and then he can help in the ruck or vice-versa," Scott said.

The Cats are also likely to take small defender Jed Bews to Perth, as he has recovered from the ankle injury that kept him out of the round 11 clash against Adelaide, however he is no certainty to win a place back in the team that has won their past three games.

Despite its good recent form, Geelong is aware it has not won a game following a bye in the past five seasons, and lost its preliminary final last season after a week's break.

Scott said while such recent history was not overly relevant, he conceded the club wasn't happy with the trend and had made some minor tweaks to its preparation.

Overall, he was more inclined to look on the bright side.

"If ever you were going to travel to Perth, you would want to do it after a bye, so we think that there are things in our favour [compared to previous years]," Scott said.

Although Eagles forward Josh Kennedy is touch and go to come up from a calf injury, Scott said the Cats were preparing for him to play.

"You'd be crazy not to think about what he means to their forward line, because he is such a good player and there is a flow-on effect to guys like [Jack] Darling and [Mark] LeCras and [Josh] Hill when he does play," Scott said.