The Sydney Swans have belted out the victory song in the bowels of Kardinia Park on their three most recent trips to the fearsome Cattery – and rising defender Lewis Melican hopes Saturday evening will bring another visit to cherish.

Pundits regard facing perennial powerhouse Geelong on its home deck as one of the most formidable challenges in the AFL, but Sydney will be chasing a fourth-straight win at the venue in a glowing run stretching back to Round 16, 2016.

Melican missed the Swans’ most recent away clash with the Cats – which saw the red and white snare seven final-term goals to Geelong’s one to steal a 22-point comeback victory in Round 6 last season – but he hopes to be warming up his vocal chords after Saturday’s twilight fixture.

“We’ve had some really good results down there – some big wins,” Melican told SwansTV.

“They pride themselves on playing good footy at home so to be able to get a couple of wins over them has been great, and hopefully we’ll be able to get another win on the weekend.”

The Cats sat in second on the ladder as the Swans set foot on their home turf in Round 16, 2016, and they were again flying high in second ahead of Sydney’s trip south in Round 20, 2017.

The Cats then occupied the respectable position of sixth as a Swans outfit missing star forward Lance Franklin suited up for Round 6, 2018.

Saturday will see Sydney face a ladder-leading Geelong unit sitting one win clear of Collingwood in second.

The Cats have chalked up nine wins and one loss over the opening 10 rounds of the season and trumped the Gold Coast Suns by 27 points last Saturday night.

Sydney fell to Collingwood in a seven-point heart-stopper last Friday night, and Melican said the Swans were determined to rectify against the red-hot Cats.

“We were a bit disappointed with the way Collingwood got over the top of us,” Melican said.

“So this week against another good opponent we’re hoping to take it up to them and get a good result.”

Sydney co-captain Dane Rampe is likely to be assigned to seven-time leading Geelong goal-kicker Tom Hawkins, but big-framed defenders Melican and Aliir Aliir could be set to pitch in.

Melican said shadowing Hawkins would make for a test to relish.

“It’d be a good challenge,” Melican said.

“He’s a good player and he’s a big, solid body, so it’d be good to test myself against him if I get the chance to.”