Geelong captain Joel Selwood admits the Cats have left themselves open to accusations of playing bruise-free footy and it's now up to them to respond.
The Cats laid only 13 tackles in the first half of last Saturday night's AFL loss to Essendon, a figure labelled as "disgraceful" by coach Chris Scott.
"Everyone has their own opinions and we've opened ourselves up to that too by the tackle number count," the famously-combative Selwood said on Monday.
"People will have that opinion on us.
"But footy can change quickly and we look forward to getting back here on Friday night and making amends for it."
With the latest stage of redevelopments now completed at Simonds Stadium, the Cats will play at home for the first time this season on Friday night against the Western Bulldogs.
"We definitely know they're a team that are going to come to tackle and out-pressure," said Selwood of the reigning premiers.
"If there's a game to test ourselves against it, it's up against the best of last year.
"They've been playing some really good footy of late.
"They've probably been stiff in their last couple of games not to get over the line in the weekend (against West Coast).
"We look forward to taking them on."
The Cats' next three matches are all under lights at Simonds Stadium against fellow top-four aspirants in the Bulldogs, Port Adelaide and Adelaide.
Selwood acknowledged morale had taken something of a hit among the playing group.
"I've never been involved in three losses in a row since my time at the footy club," said the triple-premiership star.
"We're down a little bit but we understand the game can change pretty quickly too."
Selwood's younger brother Scott is one of several players in contention for a recall against the Bulldogs, having played several games in the VFL since overcoming a foot injury.
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