It might be Dustin Martin's year, but this is Patrick Dangerfield's night. Few players can rival his charisma, and arguably none can match his brilliance. A preliminary final against his former club is a tantalising prospect, and another best afield showing should entrench his position as a great of the Geelong football club, remarkable in one respect given this is still just his second season in the Cats' hoops. But where will he play? The Brownlow medallist showed both in round 17 against Hawthorn, and then in last Friday night's upset win over Sydney, that he is a devastating key forward option for Chris Scott. But can the Geelong coach afford to play this card again? It worked a treat, but the plan relies on the Cats winning the ball from the source, as they did to great effect last weekend against the Swans. A lift from Joel Selwood would help allow Dangerfield to stay forward, while the need for Geelong's midfield underbelly - Sam Menegola, Scott Selwood and Mark Blicavs especially - to match their output from last week shouldn't be understated either. Ultimately the good news for Chris Scott is Dangerfield is versatile. It would be no surprise to see him rotating from the midfield to the forward line throughout the night. If he heads forward, lockdown backman Luke Brown is the Crow identified as most likely to have the unenviable task of trying to curb the champion's influence.

How will Sloane go not on his own?

Cast your mind back to the start of the season, and Rory Sloane was seen as a huge Brownlow chance. He's still had a very strong year, but for various reasons Sloane's stocks have fallen, if only slightly. Part of that has to do with the rise of Matt Crouch, whose exceptional campaign, along with help from brother Brad and Richard Douglas, has helped ease the midfield burden on Sloane. There's also the appendix surgery which kept Sloane from the qualifying final win over Greater Western Sydney, which highlighted that Adelaide are still capable of some very good football without him. But the big knock on Sloane has been his perceived inability to handle a hard tag. This was especially the case through May and June, as Sloane struggled with the attention of North's Sam Gibson, Melbourne's Bernie Vince, and St Kilda's Koby Stevens. Sloane's late-season form was closer to his stellar April work, but the Cats have options to stop him, with Scott Selwood and Mark Blicavs both proven run-with players. Blicavs should be full of confidence too after doing a mighty job on Swans captain Josh Kennedy last week.

Can Geelong's flakes stand up two weeks in a row?

The Cats' win over Sydney was stunning for several reasons, not least the output of some of Geelong's more mercurial players. No current Cat embodies his team's up and down nature better than Steven Motlop, who shone with a dynamic display against the Swans seven days on from a stinker against Richmond. Similarly Daniel Menzel, who was dropped before the Tigers game, came back with a clinical display near goal against Sydney. Adding intrigue to the situation is that both are out-of-contract with Geelong in no rush to re-sign either man. Zac Smith and Menegola are among the others whose best has been outstanding, and worst has been sub-par.

WIll Adelaide miss Brodie Smith's drive?

He's not the biggest-named Crow but the loss of rebounding defender Smith to a serious knee injury could have an effect. It's not a huge sample size, but Adelaide have lost all three games they've played without Smith since the start of 2015. The man to watch in his absence could be former Collingwood dasher Paul Seedsman, who is coming good at the right time of the year after the first half of his season was cruelled by groin issues. At the other end of the ground Geelong have one of the best attacking defenders in the game, with Zach Tuohy's first season since moving from Carlton putting him on the shortlist for recruit of the year.

Is the pre-finals bye a blessing or a curse?

It was acknowledged as an important reason behind the Western Bulldogs' success last year, with both qualifying final winners - Geelong and Greater Western Sydney - bowing out in preliminary final weekend. This time around the Cats and Giants have progressed to the penultimate weekend via the semi-finals, and if they deny Adelaide and Richmond spots in the grand final, there will be compelling evidence that two byes in the space of three weeks are unhelpful, and pur pressure on the AFL to re-think the idea.

Tip: Adelaide