THE NOTION that Geelong is vulnerable after losing two of its past three games is laughable, says Port Adelaide defender Jackson Trengove.
The Cats dropped from second to third on the ladder with their defeat to North Melbourne last weekend having also lost to Adelaide in round 17.
In between, though, they beat St Kilda by 101 points.
Trengove's Power will face Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Saturday and he said the club would find suggestions that it had weakened over the past month funny.
"I think they'd laugh if you said that to them," Trengove said.
"They're pretty comfortable with what they're able to do ... they've lost the last couple of games but I think that for them wouldn't mean much.
"They're a super side, they've still been able to beat the best, they knocked off Hawthorn by a close margin but they're still at the top of the table.
"I think they're still one of the best sides."
But while Trengove still looked at Geelong with a certain amount of awe, he admitted such an encounter was now less daunting compared to the start of the year.
Since round one the Power has turned its fortunes around in amazing fashion, beating the Sydney Swans, Collingwood and Adelaide - all top four sides from last year.
The club also pushed Essendon to the brink in round 15 and Carlton in round eight.
"It gives us confidence … we're able to go against these really good sides and compete against them," he said.
"Geelong are at another level, they gave us a fair touch up in our last game so we've got to go down there and earn some respect.
"We've been talking about earning respect off other teams throughout the whole year, and we probably haven't earned it off Geelong yet."
Key to the Power's hopes, he said, would be the defensive jobs on Geelong's key forwards Tom Hawkins and James Podsiadly.
Hawkins booted six goals in the Cats' 48-point win at AAMI Stadium in round nine and the 'J-Pod' kicked four.
Trengove said the Power's team defence would need to be functioning at ultimate efficiency to keep the pair quiet.
"They work as a really good duo … we're going to have to do the job as a back six and also as a team," he said.
"To beat Geelong's key forwards you have to work as a team … we'll have to bring our best defence as a 22 on the weekend."
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
