The Cats have named their team for Saturday night’s clash against Essendon, with an exciting young defender set to make his AFL debut.

Lawson Humphries is set to make his AFL debut on Saturday night, with the 63rd selection in the 2023 National draft among three changes for the Cats clash with the Bombers.

Humphries has earned his spot at the top level on the back of an impressive season so far with the Cats VFL side, averaging 22 disposals and five marks per game in 11 matches.

Mitch Knevitt has also been rewarded for his strong form in the VFL and has been selected in the team, his first appearance at AFL level since Round 2, while Shannon Neale also returns to the Cats line-up.

Ollie Henry will miss the match against the Bombers through injury, while Oisin Mullin has been omitted.

As confirmed earlier in the week Tom Hawkins will miss 6-8 weeks with a left foot injury, which he sustained in last week’s clash with Carlton.

Geelong takes on Essendon on Saturday night at the MCG, with the opening bounce at 7.30pm.

Saturday night will be the traditional Country Game, with both sides paying tribute to the impact of local and regional clubs on the game of Australian Rules Football.

The match will be broadcast live on Channel Seven and streamed via Kayo, or fans can listen to all the coverage on K rock Football from 6.00pm.

Round 16

Geelong Cats v Essendon
MCG, Melbourne
7.30pm AEST
Saturday 29 June

In: Lawson Humphries (debut), Shannon Neale, Mitch Knevitt
Out: Tom Hawkins (injured), Ollie Henry (Injured), Oisin Mullin (Omitted)

After just one win from their past seven games, the Cats climbed off the canvas to defeat Essendon for the seventh time in a row, kicking five third-term goals to salute by 45 points at the MCG.

The 16.9 (105) to 9.6 (60) result makes Essendon's top-four aspirations considerably shakier, while it shores up Geelong's bid for yet another finals appearance. 

It poured with rain to open the Country Game, and while the ball remained slippery it had no impact on the scoreboard, with seven straight majors kicked between the two sides.

Chest marks and booting the ball as far as possible were the orders of the day, although the second half was played in mostly dry conditions.

With Sam De Koning playing as primary ruck (and Mark Blicavs in support), Peter Wright appeared far too tall and powerful for Jack Henry in the first half, and he was given constant supply by Sam Durham and Jye Caldwell, who controlled the midfield.

The Bombers had looked to be the much more dangerous side in the first half, locking the ball inside their attacking 50 time and time again, but they couldn't quite shake off the Cats, who drew level with an impressive and opportunistic Ollie Dempsey soccer.

Geelong looked at its best when the veterans lifted – a Mitch Duncan drive out of defence, a Patrick Dangerfield hit into forward 50 or an intercept mark from newly minted inside midfielder Tom Stewart.

Essendon skipper Zach Merrett was held to four disposals in the first term by Tom Atkins, but kicked things off in style with a snap goal to open the second term, letting his Cats opponent know all about it.

The Cats fans grew in voice as the team found some speed out of the middle in the second half, kicking 4.2 from its first 10 entries of the third term. It included a controversial second to Dempsey as Jye Menzie was pinged for a deliberate rushed behind, coupled with a non-free to Sam Draper for an arm-chop inside 50.

Kyle Langford had been blanketed by Zach Guthrie for most of the game, but his first major halfway through the final term broke a run of six Geelong goals.

Dempsey was superb when the game was in the balance, running hard on the wing, while Caldwell battled hard throughout for the Bombers. 

Lawson Humphries – one of last year's draft bolters who was plucked from the WAFL reserves – looked at home on debut, showing some nice signs off half-back for the Cats.

A backline becomes a midfield

Despite the looming presence of Peter Wright and the resting ruck of either Sam Draper or Todd Goldstein, Geelong persisted with Sam De Koning contesting the ball-ups in the middle of the ground. He had a familiar face alongside him, with Tom Stewart playing as an inside midfielder, rather than half-back or in more recent times, wing. Playing a sweeping role, Stewart had 10 disposals to half-time, before spending more time in defence in the second half. Essendon's top-heavy side with two rucks and Nik Cox as sub was an interesting choice given the weather.

GEELONG       3.2     6.4     11.6     16.9     (105)
ESSENDON     4.2     7.3     8.3     9.6     (60)

GOALS
Geelong: Stengle 3, Dempsey 2, Cameron 2, Rohan 2, Duncan, Neale, Holmes, Bowes, Blicavs, Close, Knevitt
Essendon: Stringer 2, Wright 2, Gresham, Merrett, Hind, Guelfi, Langford

BEST
Geelong: Dempsey, Bowes, Holmes, Tuohy, Rohan, Stewart
Essendon: Caldwell, Durham, Merrett, Martin, Guelfi

INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
Essendon: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Mark O'Connor (replaced Mitch Duncan in the fourth quarter)
Essendon: Nik Cox (replaced Harry Jones in the fourth quarter)

Crowd: 54,698 at the MCG