Geelong will celebrate its annual Djilang game when the Cats meet the Crows in Sir Doug Nicholls Round on Sunday.

The Round 13 match will take place at Adelaide Oval with the first bounce at 1.05pm AEST.

VIEW MATCH DAY GUIDE

The Cats enter the match in excellent form after back-to-back wins against fellow top four contenders Port Adelaide and St Kilda.

A victory on Sunday could see the Cats move into the top two and move a step closer to securing a finals berth with Round 18 fast approaching.

After a nine-day break between games Mark O’Connor is feeling fresh and looking forward to taking on the Crows.

“It has been a bit different this week with the nine-day break, it kind of feels like a bye at the minute because of all of the quick-fire games we just had in those four or five day breaks, but the mood is great,” O’Connor told Cats Media.

“I think we are playing football the way we wanted to play earlier in the year and we really know at the minute how we want to play.

“We are all on the same page at the minute or it feels like that anyway, and we are actually actioning the way we want to play the best we have in a while, but we are still building and hopefully we will be peaking later on in the season.”

For and Against: Played 45 games | Won: 25 | Lost: 20

Last time they met: R15, 2019 – Geelong 14.12 (96) def Adelaide 10.9 (69)

Broadcast & Match Details

Sunday 23 August from 1.05pm AEST.
Watch: Fox Footy, Kayo
Listen: K Rock Football

Djilang Willem Baa Warriyt

Geelong Strong at home or far away.

This Sunday’s game against Adelaide will be Geelong’s annual Djilang game.

READ - CELEBRATING CULTURE IN ANNUAL DJILANG MATCH

Geelong will run out wearing a guernsey designed by Quinton Narkle.

Brandan Parfitt says it is a date that every Indigenous player looks forward to each year.

“Obviously being Indigenous and growing up with all of my family being Indigenous it’s pretty special and you jot these dates in when you know you’re playing in these games,” Parfitt said.

Key forward set to return

Geelong’s forwardline has been on fire in recent weeks with Tom Hawkins and Gary Rohan combining for 18 goals in the past two games.

Coach Chris Scott believes the Cats’ attack could be even more damaging with Esava Ratugolea back in the team.

“We have seen for a few weeks that structure has worked for us, but we would like to see if we can even make it better and I think I am pretty clear and transparent on Ratugolea, I am bullish there and I am looking forward to seeing him back in the team,” Scott said.

“I couldn’t see a reason that a structure with him in the team couldn’t prosper any more.”

READ – IN THE MIX 

GEELONG has kept its top-two hopes alive with a 28-point win over Adelaide in round 13.

The scoreline was not indicative of the battle the Cats faced as the Crows trailed by just nine points heading into the last term thanks to a goal from David Mackay after the three-quarter time siren.

Adelaide applied intense pressure across the first three quarters, but fell away in the final term as the Cats walked away with an 9.11 (65) to 5.7 (37) victory.

The Cats have been a strong finishing team throughout 2020 and a goalless final term for the Crows was indicative of the way Geelong can control the game when it needs to.

Geelong duo Cameron Guthrie (33 disposals) and Sam Menegola (24 disposals) further pushed their cases for Virgin Australia AFL All Australian selection, while Matt Crouch (22 disposals and 14 tackles) was the pick of the Crows' midfielders.

Jack Steven played his best game in the blue and white hoops, racking up 24 disposals and benefitting with more midfield minutes in Joel Selwood's absence, but suffered a knock to the knee in the final moments of the game.

Taylor Walker showed intent with four tackles in his 200th game, but he'll have to wait a little while longer to overtake Tony Modra as Adelaide's all-time leading goalkicker as the ex-skipper was held goalless for the fifth time this year.

The Cats are set for an intriguing battle against the Bulldogs next Friday, while the Crows will have a chance to reset with a bye in round 14.

Everything Nicks would have wanted, except the points

Adelaide couldn't have come out with more fire and effort in the early stages of the game. Taylor Walker and Darcy Fogarty were laying fierce tackles, the ball movement was rapid and through dangerous areas – it was everything Crows coach Matthew Nicks would have wanted. But Geelong's maturity showed by slowing the game down and racking up uncontested marks when it needed to. All the Crows needed to be was a little cleaner with the ball, but there were plenty of positives to look back on.

Crows expose chink in Cats' armour

Geelong came into round 13 averaging the second-most centre clearances across the League, while Adelaide sat last in that stat. But at half-time the Crows led the centre clearances battle 6-1 and generated six of their seven scoring shots in the first half from stoppages. Cats coach Chris Scott asked for a lift in that area at the main break and Geelong ended up level as both sides finished with seven centre clearances for the match.

Hawkins v Hartigan a brilliant battle

Kyle Hartigan was tasked with taking on the most in-form forward in the League in Tom Hawkins and he couldn't have done a better job in the early stages. Hawkins' only goal in the first half came from a tough set shot, as Hartigan mixed up his tactics to stop the Cats star on the lead. Hawkins got off the leash in the second half and finished with three goals, but was held to just four marks after 10 the week prior.

ADELAIDE     1.3     3.4     5.6     5.7     (37)
GEELONG      3.2     4.5     6.9     9.11     (65)

GOALS
Adelaide: Stengle, Sloane, Schoenberg, McAdam, Mackay
Geelong: Hawkins 3, Stanley 2, Duncan 2, Blicavs, Rohan

BEST
Adelaide: M.Crouch, Laird, O'Brien, Mackay, Sloane, Hartigan
Geelong: C.Guthrie, Steven, Menegola, Duncan, Dangerfield, Hawkins

INJURIES
Adelaide: McAdam (hamstring)
Geelong: Steven (knee)