GEELONG is confident Tom Hawkins will line up in next Saturday's battle for the top-two with the Sydney Swans at Simonds Stadium, while evergreen champion Paul Chapman has put his name in the frame with another impressive hit-out in the VFL.
Hawkins missed Saturday night's 66-point win over West Coast in Perth with an ongoing back injury but Cats coach Chris Scott said he had responded well to treatment and a light week on the track.
"We are pretty confident Hawkins will come back and if Tom is fit and healthy then he is a crucial part of our team," Scott said of the man who took seven contested marks in Geelong's 2011 flag triumph.
"He'll be right to train early in the week and we'll push him hard ... by Tuesday we'll have a pretty good idea of if he is going to play.
"We will value four weeks' time more than this weekend when it comes to Tom so (we're) optimistic but a little cautious."
Scott said the club would be embracing the clash with last year's premiers as a genuine battle for second spot.
"The mathematics show that is accurate. There is no point shying away from that," he said.
"I am pretty confident that if we are playing our best footy we can beat anyone anywhere. Now the other top six sides will probably say the same thing, and so they should, but winning is important next week."
He said competition for spots remained hot at Geelong for next week's game and beyond.
"Stability is important but at the same time we've got some players we'd be more than happy to bring into our 22 at the moment. We need to balance a stable 22 with giving opportunities to those outside it who deserve it," Scott said.
"They (the VFL side) played this afternoon at Port Melbourne on a really small ground where possessions can be hard to find. Chapman had 25 or 26 touches (in his third VFL game after a serious hamstring injury), Josh Hunt was in the top five or six possession-getters as a defender, the signs are good for those guys.
"But it's not just the experienced guys; Taylor Hunt has been a mainstay of our best 22 this year and we'd be optimistic at this stage that he'll force his way back into that group."
