Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy says Geelong’s lack of height down back was exposed during their 21-point win over an inaccurate St Kilda.
The Saints took 14 marks inside 50 as tall trio Max King, Tim Membrey and Rowan Marshall troubled Geelong’s defence, who were let off the hook by some wayward kicking for goal.
Healy thinks Geelong should consider swinging utility Mark Blicavs into defence to give them more height and provide further support for veteran backman Lachie Henderson.
“To me, it has exposed one of the biggest decisions in footy right now, what do to with (Mark) Blicavs?” he told Sportsday.
“Blicavs is the wingman/ruck … he’s going ok, but he’s certainly not doing as well as when he’s the full-time ruck. As a full-time wingman, they’ve got some young kids coming through, so he (coach Chris Scott) has got some choices there.
“I know he adds some enormous running power and he can run defensively and help out, but there’s no question that Max King and the three talls of St Kilda just exposed them a little bit.
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“(Jake) Kolodjashnij’s not there, but (Jack) Henry just wasn’t tall enough. Now Blicavs would have been, relatively, compared to Henry.
“West Coast has got the three talls, Port Adelaide’s got three talls, Richmond’s just got two and it didn’t hurt them two weeks ago.
“This is a real challenge for Chris (Scott) to get his head around.”
Geelong (6-3) is next in action against Gold Coast (3-6) at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
