Geelong will paint Optus Stadium blue and white when they host Collingwood from 8.10pm AEST (6.10pm local time) tonight.

The game promises to be a great spectacle between two sides eager to cement their places inside the top four.

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The Cats are chasing a fourth consecutive victory following wins against the Lions, Suns and Dees in the past month.

For and Against: Played 234 games | Won: 100 | Drawn: 1 | Lost: 133

Last time they met: QF, 2019 – Geelong 7.9 (51) def by Collingwood 9.7 (61)

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Team Mindset and Fast Start Focus

Harry Taylor believes the Cats will need to produce a team effort if they want to defeat a well-balanced Collingwood outfit on Thursday night.

“With all of their really good players you need to have a team mindset to beat them, otherwise it’s very hard,” Taylor said.

The start is also going to be important for the Cats. Collingwood has won five of their six opening quarters this year and it will be crucial that Geelong matches their intensity early.

"They have been terrific in their starts to games, and in the shortened version of the games if you don't start well it's very hard to catch up as we found out against Carlton," Taylor said.

Ablett Snr and Jnr bring up 600

After celebrating his 350th AFL game with a win against the Suns in Round 5, Gary Ablett Jnr will have another special milestone this week.

Ablett Jnr and his father (Ablett Snr) become just the second father/son pair to play 600 AFL games.

Interestingly, the Ablett’s will bring up the 600 in the same game where Gary Jnr reaches his dad’s total of 242 games in the blue and white.

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Stand Proud in WA

Harry Taylor is excited by the prospect of playing in front of a significant crowd for the first time this season.

“It is going to be amazing,” he said.

“To have 20 to 30,000 people will be unbelievable. It will seriously feel like a big game at the MCG.”

“There will certainly be some Geelong and Collingwood supporters, but hopefully footy fans in general come along as well, yell and screen and make football fun which is one of the things we love about it.”

Geelong entered Thursday night's clash at Optus Stadium as the competition's highest scoring team, but it was the Magpies who put on the afterburners, running away with the 22-point win in the final term. 

Jordan De Goey was central to things after returning to the Collingwood line-up for his first game since he was charged with indecent assault relating to an incident in 2015. 

The out-of-contract forward was the difference between the sides, but not the only facet of the Pies' 8.9 (57) to 5.5 (35) win given their control of the midfield and backline.

The Pies are the AFL's best defensive team and again their backline stacked up by keeping the Cats to their lowest score since 2001. 

The Cats didn't have Joel Selwood due to a hamstring injury in the first quarter and then lost youngster Jordan Clark in the third term with a shoulder concern, but the Magpies dominated proceedings after jumping out to an early lead. 

Moore and defensive partner Brayden Maynard put in further evidence why they could be first-time Virgin Australia AFL All-Australians this season with impressive defensive performances, while the midfield showings of Adam Treloar (34 disposals) and Scott Pendlebury (24) were also important. 

Patrick Dangerfield (32 disposals, 10 clearances) and Cam Guthrie (28 disposals, 8 clearances) were Geelong's best. 

De Goey gets going

The Collingwood star couldn't have hoped for a better start in his return to the field. De Goey's mark in the opening two minutes saw him boot a long goal and be swamped by teammates, and he continued to be dangerous in attack with his power and explosiveness around goal. In a low-scoring game De Goey's influence was big, and his one-handed mark and then snap in the second term was something nobody else in black and white could have done. De Goey spent the majority of the contest deep in attack and showed he's at home close to goal, booting three goals in the final term to seal the win in his best game of 2020. 

Pies capitalise on Selwood absence

The Cats needed a full complement of midfielders to match it with the star-studded Collingwood group, so the early injury to Selwood was a hammer blow to Geelong's hopes. The Pies made the most of that ascendancy, recording more disposals and engineering a play-on game style that ran the Cats ragged, particularly in the first half.. While Treloar, Pendlebury and Taylor Adams continued to dominate, the performance of Tom Phillips off a wing with 20 disposals – the best game of his season – also underlined Collingwood's brilliant depth around the ball. 

Clark's tough luck

Geelong youngster Jordan Clark didn't get much of a chance to enjoy his return to the senior side after suffering what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury in the third quarter. Clark, who booted the Cats' first goal of the opening term, found his right arm tangled in a contest at ground level with Collingwood big man Brodie Grundy. Clark immediately grabbed for his arm and ended the game in a sling. The West Australian talent, who hadn't played at senior level since round one, was a sensation on the wing last year in his debut season before an elbow injury saw him miss the Cats' finals series. 

GEELONG               1.1     1.3     3.5     5.5     (35)
COLLINGWOOD     2.2     4.3     5.7     8.9     (57)

GOALS
Geelong: Clark, Guthrie, Rohan, Simpson, Tuohy
Collingwood: De Goey 5, Adams, Daicos, Hoskin-Elliott 

BEST
Geelong: Dangerfield, Guthrie, Ablett, Menegola, Tuohy
Collingwood: De Goey, Treloar, Moore, Pendlebury, Maynard, Adams

INJURIES
Geelong: Selwood (right hamstring), Clark (right shoulder)
Collingwood: Cox (managed) replaced in selected side by Noble