Geelong may turn to AFL off-season recruit Scott Selwood in an effort to curb the influence of Hawthorn veteran Sam Mitchell next week.
Mitchell has often saved his best for the Cats and delivered plenty of clutch kicks, marks and tackles in the many memorable clashes the rivals have had in recent years.
The former skipper tallied 36 possessions and six clearances in 2014, when the Hawks and Cats most recently met in September.
It led to a 36-point win in the qualifying final - a result that put Hawthorn on track for the second of their three consecutive flags.
Selwood was deployed as a tagger in most of the 135 games he played for West Coast and looms as a new run-with option at Chris Scott's disposal.
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"We won't worry about Sam, we'll just let him go again," Cats coach Scott joked on Wednesday.
"If Scott plays he'd be a candidate obviously but I've seen lots of teams go with different methods against Sam, not many of them have worked.
"We'll obviously think through it but we've got a lot of respect for him as a player and what he means to their team.
"He's a proven performer on the big stage so he'll take up a bit of our time."
Selwood missed the Cats' final-round win over Melbourne because of a tight hamstring but is expected to return in next Friday's qualifying final at the MCG.
Skipper Joel Selwood noted it would be "special" to play a final alongside his brother but both had more grand plans in mind.
"What he signed up to do was to make Geelong better," Joel Selwood said.
"Whether it be next Friday night or the next final that we play in, he's just got to make sure that he's ready."
