Geelong captain Joel Selwood has rubbished suggestions the Cats are too reliant on the 'Dangerwood' combination.
Fans and experts alike marveled at the dominance of Patrick Dangerfield in the midfield last season, combining brilliantly with captain Selwood.
However, such was the dominance of the pair that many suggested Geelong was too reliant on the midfield duo and fellow midfielders were simply not up to standard or contributing to games.
But Selwood believes the suggestion is an insult to the other onballers in the team.
"It's so unfair to our other midfielders," Selwood told AAP.
"They're better players than people give them credit for.
"We won 17 games last year and it's not just off the back of two players. We think they should get more respect."
Selwood said while the likes of Cam Guthrie, Mitch Duncan and Scott Selwood are fantastic midfielders in their own right, he predicts Sam Menegola and Darcy Lang to enjoy big seasons and add further help to Dangerfield and Selwood.
"We expect Sam to grow again. He's a young kid that had his first taste of footy last year," he said.
"Darcy Lang's been doing a bit of time through the midfield and we expect Mitch Duncan, Cam Guthrie and Mark Blicavs to keep getting better and better."
