Star defender Tom Stewart is Geelong's hard luck story for the AFL grand final.
The 32-year-old Stewart played 20 games this season, taking his career tally to 191 games, before suffering a nasty concussion in the preliminary final victory over Hawthorn.
With the AFL's concussion rules, Stewart was immediately crossed off as any hope of featuring against the Lions.
It is a significant blow for Geelong to lose its five-time All-Australian and 2022 premiership player.
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It's a measure of the man, however, in the way Stewart has conducted himself since his awful hand was dealt for this year's decider.
Cats utility Mark Blicavs talked about Stewart's impact in the build-up to Saturday's huge game.
“Mate, he is the ultimate leader,” Blicavs told Fox Footy.
“He’s obviously hurting, but around the boys and around his teammates, he’s prepped us really well for this game.
“He’s just shown up, been so positive and it’s a real quality of him. Real leadership skills.”
Ruckman Rhys Stanley has come back into the Cats side, with some speculation he could be the starting sub against Brisbane.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said on grand final eve he believes his team is well placed to withstand the absence of such a key Cat as Stewart.
"It's a little bit of a juggle, but one we think we’re pretty well prepared for," Scott said.
"We've had some good performances without him (Stewart) over the few years, which in some ways speaks a little bit to our improvement as a team and as a squad really.
"There was a time where if you said to me we didn't have Stewart or we didn't have (Patrick) Dangerfield, we would have been in big trouble.
"But it just doesn't feel that way now."