The Grand Final rematch is finally here as the Cats unfurl their flag before taking on the Swans in Geelong.

Match details

• Who: Geelong Cats vs Sydney Swans
• When: Saturday 22 April, 7.25pm
• Where: GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
• Weather: min 11, max 20. 10% chance of rain
• Head-to-head record since 1980: Played 75. Swans 30 wins. Cats 45 wins.

Teams

Swans

IN: Aaron Francis, Ryan Clarke

OUT: Corey Warner (omitted), Joel Amartey (injured), Will Gould (sub)

Former Bomber Aaron Francis will make his Swans debut and will most likely play down back given the Swans are missing so many of their talls. Clarke comes in for his first game of the season after a solid back half of 2022. Gould and Warner are unlucky to make way after debuting last week, while Amartey will miss a couple of months with a hamstring injury.

Cats

IN: Gary Rohan, Jonathon Ceglar

OUT: Brandan Parfitt (sub), Rhys Stanley (injured), Tyson Stengle (injured)

The Cats have a couple of injury blows of their own with both Stanley (eye socket) and Stengle (arm) set to miss a few week’s after surgery. Rohan returns from suspension and should help stretch Sydney’s backline, while Ceglar comes in as the number one ruckman.

Click here to see the complete team line-ups.

Season so far

Sydney Swans 5^th – 132.4% | 498 points for | 376 points against | 3 wins & 2 losses | WLLWW

The Swans fielded the youngest side of any team in Gather Round, and the young bloods produced an incredible effort to claim a 44-point win over Richmond.

The win was made even better given Sydney’s rather large injury toll, especially to their key defenders, with the McCartin brothers and Dane Rampe all missing.

Nick Blakey stood up playing as a tall defender, while Tom Papley produced one of the best individual games of the season, finishing with 25 touches, 13 score involvements and six goals.

Taking on the Cats down in Geelong is the toughest road trip in the AFL, and this young Swans side will need to improve even further to get the job done.

Geelong Cats 10^th – 119% | 502 points for | 422 points against| 2 wins & 3 losses | WWLLL

After staring the year 0-3, the Cats have got themselves going with two big wins over bottom four sides.

While they haven’t been bad this year, the Cats just haven’t been the force we saw in the second half of last year, but we know they can time their run just right.

Jeremy Cameron has been in sensational form all season, while Tom Hawkins played his best game last week. Both superstar key forwards will be licking their lips coming up against a seriously undermanned Sydney backline.

This is also their game at Kardinia Park for 2023, so they will be looking to produce a powerful performance after unfurling the flag at their fortress.

Last 5 meetings and GMHBA Stadium

• 2022 Grand Final: Cats 20.13 (133) defeat Swans 8.4 (52) at MCG
• 2022 round 2: Swans 17.5 (107) defeat Cats 10.17 (77) at SCG
• 2021 round 7: Swans 14.6 (90) defeat Cats 12.16 (88) at SCG
• 2020 round 18: Swans 9.9 (63) lost to Cats 10.9 (69) at Metricon Stadium
• 2019 round 19: Swans 12.8 (80) lost to Cats 16.11 (107) at SCG

These two sides have had some great moments and close battles in their last few meetings.

Geelong have a 3-2 record over Sydney in their last five appearances, with their most notable win last year’s 81-point victory in the Grand Final which could give them some sort of mental edge in this clash.

The Swans have also had a couple of good moments in recent memory against the Cats, with a comeback win in 2021 followed by celebrating Buddy’s 1000th goal in a 30-point win early last season.

These sides haven’t met in Geelong since 2019 which the Cats won by 22 points. Prior to that, the Swans had won the previous four matches at Kardinia Park.

Pre-match predictions

Perfect Ten: The Cats star forwards Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins to combine for 10 goals against an undersized Sydney backline. Cats by 29.

Young bloods: Sydney’s two best youngsters Errol Gulden and Chad Warner to combine for 50 touches and two goals.

Have any pre-match predictions of your own? Let us know in the comments below.