Geelong have been dealt a massive blow with Bailey Smith withdrawn from the team to face Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon.

The Cats officially said the superstar midfielder is out with “hamstring tightness”.

Smith was put through a fitness test about 90 minutes before bounce-down at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, but didn’t do enough to take his place in the team.

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Smith appeared to tweak his hamstring in the dying stages of last week’s win over West Coast, but the man himself said it was just cramp.

Ted Clohesy has come into the starting 22 with veteran Mitch Duncan locked in as the substitute.

Gold Coast also made a late change with tall Ethan Read replaced in the selected side by Sean Lemmens.

Ben Ainsworth will be the Suns’ substitute.

Smith has been the Cats’ best player this season, averaging 31 disposals a game to surge into favouritism for the Brownlow Medal.

But his absence leaves a huge hole in Geelong’s midfield for the crucial top-four clash.

The only other game Smith has missed this year was in Round 2 against St Kilda when the Cats suffered a shock loss.

Meanwhile, Geelong coach Chris Scott is confident captain Patrick Dangerfield is ready to return to his bullocking best.

Dangerfield is back from his latest hamstring injury as the Cats (8-4) seek to leap above the fourth-placed Suns (8-3) on the ladder.

History is on their side after seven wins in as many attempts against visiting Gold Coast teams at the Kardinia Park venue.

Scott, who dismissed that record as irrelevant this week, will welcome back Dangerfield after a fortnight on the sidelines.

The two-time premiership coach suggested his skipper could have played in the Cats’ last-start win over West Coast if required.

As usual, Geelong have taken a conservative approach to the 35-year-old’s rehabilitation as they eye another finals campaign later in the season.

“The assessment would be that last week was the extra week, if we were going to think about it that way,” Scott said.

“But he’s trained really well for a few weeks and probably that, in the context of previous hamstring issues he’s had, this is right at the minor end.

“We probably would have pushed him a little bit harder if we were in the last couple of games of the season, but didn’t feel the need to do that.

“So he’s definitely right.”