With the first month of the AFL season drawing to a close, narratives for all of the competition's 18 teams have begun to arise.
Whilst some are struggling and others are thriving, you can bet your bottom dollar that each of the league's list of polo shirt wearing pedagogues will still be desperate for improvement this weekend.
With this in mind, here are the key quandaries facing every AFL club ahead of Round 4.
Geelong
Should their โgo slow' style continue to get the go ahead?
Despite the pre-season rule tinkering designed to speed up the game and increase scorer's workloads, Chris Scott and his glaring of Cats have stuck to their guns โ just not the starter's one.
Despite their game plan appearing far more tortoise than it is hare, Scott has stuck fat with the possession-based style that saw his side within touching distance at the start of last season's final quarter.
Entering the final week of the season's first month, the hoops have accumulated a 2-1 record, a percentage just shy of 98 and the lion's share of the football across their 360-minutes of game time.
Ahead of their Round 4 clash against the unbeaten Demons, the Cats have met the initial criteria needed to play Scott's slow and steady style, by remaining in possession of the Sherrin for an average of 42% of game time.
What has been shedding the feline footballers of fur is their counterintuitive propensity for turning the ball over โ an error they make on average 58 times a game.
Although this game plan almost delivered a premiership, it is not something that is all that popular within the playing ranks โ just ask Gryan Miers.
Gryan Miers has provided a candid insight into Geelong's current game plan and revealed the way he personally likes to see the game played | https://t.co/AUPIgSr9F3 | #AFL pic.twitter.com/b553Bpi5ZS
— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) April 5, 2021
โI definitely prefer if (the ball moves) faster,โ the dreadlocked small forward told SEN's Sportsday.
โOur whole team does (as well), but it's all about holding on to possession and making opposition defend for long times and going in on our terms and that's worked in the past and it did show last year with the Grand Final appearance.
โIt does seem to work and we go both ways which is a strength of ours.โ
Despite what some punters and pundits may think of the Cats' contrarian approach to offense, there is one thing you can be sure of โ if Geelong continue winning games, it is almost certain to stay.
Still, if they continue coughing up more than just hairballs when in control, a side like the Demons are likely to make them pay, as Simon Goodwin's legion lead the competition for inside 50's and average 91-points per game.
If Scott's early season winning streak is capped at two this weekend, then you can be sure that alterations โ either in personal or in style โ will be made.
Just don't expect the 44-year-old to develop a lead foot overnight.
