All eyes now set upon Round 2 as Geelong take on Adelaide in Friday night footy at Adelaide Oval.

The Crows, coming off a narrow six points loss at the hands of the Gold Coast Suns, will still head into Friday night’s game with plenty of belief after coming home like a steamtrain last week, kicking five goals and scoring 32 of their 54 points in the fourth quarter. 

And the Crows will welcome back veteran Tex Walker to the team after he missed the first-round match due to back spasms.

The Cats, however, will look to continue the momentum of their Round One victory at home against St. Kilda. Up by as much as 24 at one stage and 21 late in the fourth, the Cats were able to hold off a late Saints charge, getting home by eight points and securing their first win of the year.

Geelong will be without young midfielder Tanner Bruhn who sustained a foot injury early in the Round 1 clash. Irish Speedster Oisin Mullen will join the team of 23 in what will be just his seventh game of AFL football.

Dempsey Delivers

Ollie Dempsey was given the Round 1 Rising Star nod after notching up 15 disposals, 3 goals and 2 goals assists and he will look to double down on his form with another thrilling performance against Adelaide as he chases his first back-to-back wins in his short career.

Patrick Dangerous on Return

After eight years with the Adelaide Crows, Patrick Dangerfield will line up to play his former side for the 12th time in his career. Having the wood over them 7-4, Dangerfield always saves his best against the team that drafted him 10th in the 2007 National Draft.

With his highest disposal average (27.9), his highest tackle average (6.8) and an average of 112 fantasy points against Adelaide, Dangerfield will be set for another big impact following an impressive Round 1 game where he received the maximum 10 Coaches votes.

In the 53 games of Dangerfield’s career where he has been best on ground, the round in which follows he averages 26.2 Disposals, 14 Kicks, 12.2 Handballs, just under one goal and one Brownlow vote. If able to stay true to course, expect another strong performance from the Geelong Cats Captain.

Tom’s Milestone Moment

With everything he has achieved, it's hard to believe that Tom Stewart is only reaching the 150 games millstone. The five-time All-Australian and Premiership defender will run out to celebrate the occasion at his, statistically, most favourable oval outside of Victoria.

At the Adelaide Oval, Stewart has racked up his most amount of total career disposals (228), the highest amount of career tackles (24) and the highest amount of career rebound 50’s (69) in just the 12 games played there. 

Stewart also has career highs against the Adelaide Crows in Brownlow votes (4), the highest amount of career One Percenters (46) and averages 105 fantasy points in his last five battles against the Crows.

After 22 disposals, six marks and 445 meters gained in his performance last week against the Saints, Stewart will look to carry his current form into his milestone match.

Head to Head

Coming into Friday night’s game, Geelong holds a lop-sided 4-1 lead in the last five outings between the two teams. Geelong's last defeat came in Round One of the 2021 season at Adelaide Oval. A year in which Adelaide finished 15th and Geelong 3rd. 

Despite that record, and the fact the Cats have won five out of the last six contests against the Crows, Geelong will have to battle with their 8-18 record at Adelaide Oval when playing Adelaide. 

With the overall head-to-head stat quite close between the two, 28 wins to Geelong and 21 to Adelaide, it’s only when you take a deeper dive into where those wins are coming from, you find that the home team is considerably more favourable than the away team.

With the Cats holding a 20-3 record at GMHBA Stadium and as before mentioned, Adelaide holding a 18-8 record at Adelaide Oval, Geelong Cats fans will be hoping that previous performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Round 2 kicks off at 7:40 pm AEDT on Friday at Adelaide Oval.