Gryan Miers admits he never knows what to expect from Geelong teammate Jeremy Cameron.

But it’s that unpredictability that defines the All-Australian superstar, a country lad who famously lost his premiership medal to a cow and posted the evidence on social media.

“We’ll be down a goal in a final and he’ll come up to me and say, ‘do you smell the meat pies in the crowd?'” Miers said ahead of the Cats’ qualifying final against Port Adelaide on Thursday.

“You’re just not sure what you’re going to get from him, and then he’ll go on and kick the winning goal.

“It’s just the fun of playing with Jeremy and the character he is.”

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Cameron has led Geelong’s goal-kicking for the second successive season in 2024, standing up in the absence of injured spearhead Tom Hawkins.

The 31-year-old’s 58 majors during the home-and-away campaign earned him a second All-Australian blazer and steered the Cats back into flag contention after missing finals last year.

It’s his X-factor that Miers believes makes his high-profile teammate so valuable.

“Even though he’s the best, he’s the hardest to know what he’s going to do,” Miers said.

“It’s exciting and it makes it unpredictable for us in a predictable team.

“It’s great to have one or two of those players that you know you can trust are going to do the job but you’re just not sure how they’re going to do it.”

Cameron will again lead the Cats’ attack when they take on the Power at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

Veteran forward Hawkins has been missing since June because of a foot injury, opening the door for inexperienced tall Shannon Neale.

Former Collingwood forward Ollie Henry and Rising Star winner Ollie Dempsey have also shone in an evolving forward mix.

The latter trio are among six Cats — along with Cameron, Tyson Stengle and Brad Close — who have each kicked more than 20 goals in the competition’s third-most potent attack this season.

“Hawk’s leadership is something that you just can’t replace, so we’ve all had to step up in different ways,” Miers said.

“But it is fun having that new era of Cats that we’re bringing to the forefront.

“Playing with Ollie (Henry) and Shannon Neale has just been so much fun to have new, fresh faces.”

Club great Hawkins is set to return through the VFL this week and could yet feature in the Cats’ AFL premiership push before retiring at the end of the season.

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“I’ve played with Hawk for six years and I don’t think we’d really missed playing a game together, so it has been different,” Miers said.

“Hopefully Hawk can be out there one or two more times, but we’ll see what happens.”

Miers has been a Geelong regular since his debut in 2019, but shot to prominence last year when he broke the competition record with 41 goal-assists in a season.

The 25-year-old leads the Cats again in that department this year with 24 goal-assists, and is entering his fifth finals series in six seasons as he eyes a second premiership medal.

“I’ve been absolutely blessed and put in a situation that I could only have dreamed of,” he said.

“I’ve been able to fight for finals every year and play in finals (almost) every year.

“Sometimes they’ve gone wrong, sometimes they’ve gone right, and I’ve just had amazing experiences along the way.”

• ABC Sport will be live blogging and calling all the AFL finals. Follow the action at abc.net.au/sport

AAP