Geelong has paid a heavy price for its narrow loss to St Kilda in last Sunday's epic AFL encounter with four key players ruled out through injury for Saturday night's trip to Brisbane.
The Cats announced on Thursday night that due to the short back-up - just six days after one of the most fiercely contested matches ever played in the battle between the AFL's two unbeaten teams - that champion full-back Matthew Scarlett (tight back), ace tagger Cameron Ling (knee tendonitis), defender Darren Milburn (ankle) and James Kelly (hamstring tightness) would all be ruled out of the clash with the Lions.
In their place come a first gamer in 19-year-old Tom Gillies as well as Ryan Gamble, David Wojcinksi and Tom Lonergan.
The Cats' shock omissions overshadowed some big inclusions elsewhere with Western Bulldogs key defender Tom Williams, Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli, West Coast big guns Dean Cox and Daniel Kerr, Port star Chad Cornes and Adelaide captain Simon Goodwin all set to return this weekend.
While the loss of Milburn was expected for the Cats, after he rolled his ankle against the Saints, the absence of their other three stars is a major surprise and comes on top of the continued absence of 2007 Norm Smith Medalist Steve Johnson - whose late withdrawal last week with a bruised hip cost the Cats dearly as they lost their unbeaten record for season 2009 to the Saints.
The Cats released a statement on Thursday night saying that both Scarlett and Kelly, who both pulled up sore at training during the week following the Saints clash, are expected to return for next week's clash against Melbourne while Ling and Milburn's injuries could sideline them for more than one game.
The absence of Scarlett, the AFL's premier defender, in particular is a huge blow for the Cats - who rarely take to the field without their defensive linchpin.
Scarlett has been amazingly durable during his 220-game career and has played at least 20 matches in every completed season this decade while his absence could not come at a worse time as the Cats this week face one of the AFL's premier key forward pairings in Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw.
In his place comes Gillies - who was pick 33 in the 2008 national draft - and made his name in junior football as a defender after being named at full-back in last year's TAC Cup team of the year.
But