Bailey Smith is a certain round-one starter, despite the star Geelong recruit missing their AFL pre-season loss to Essendon because of a knee injury.
After starring in last week's pre-season hitout against Hawthorn, Smith sat out Tuesday night's 21-point loss to the Bombers at GMHBA Stadium.
He did not play a game last season for the Western Bulldogs because of a knee reconstruction and Smith then joined the Cats in a high-profile trade.
Assistant coach Steven King said Smith would be ready for Thursday week's season opener against premiers Brisbane at the Gabba.
"He'll definitely play - he tweaked his knee a little bit, it was very minor.
"He was sitting up there tonight going 'I could have played'.
"We thought he's missed so much footy, he got through really well against Hawthorn ... let's just give him two or three really good sessions for Brisbane."
Tanner Bruhn also missed the match because of a finger injury.
Despite Essendon kicking clear late in the match, King said the Cats were "really happy" and added it had given them five or six hard selection decisions for next week.
"It was a pretty hot game, high intensity. Essendon have been really sharp ... we saw enough flexibility within the team to keep our options open for Brisbane next week," King said.
Geelong rotated several players through the midfield as they try to add to their depth in that part of the ground, with Jack Bowes and Mitch Knevitt having strong games.
"We have to be a team that are a weight-of-numbers midfield group," King said.
"We have the flexibility in there. At times, there are other teams who cement three, four or five mids, but we're going to have to bat a bit deeper.
"There's a real opportunity and excitement about that - we're pretty optimistic."
While having so many players go through the midfield at times created problems, King said Geelong liked what they saw.
"At times tonight, there was probably a lack of cohesion because so many numbers were going through there," he said.
"That will settle down a little bit more as we get into the season.
"Bowesy was really important, he got his hands on the ball a lot and when he kicks the footy more than he handballs, he makes great decisions for us.
"That was a real positive for us tonight."
While captain Patrick Dangerfield also went into the midfield, he played more as a forward and that will probably be his main role this season.
