Geelong star Travis Varcoe set to undergo shoulder surgery Geelong will be sweating on Travis Varcoe's injury status after the livewire injured his left shoulder, while Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer was subbed out with a broken bone in his thumb. Cat Travis Varcoe walks the boundary with ice on his injured left shoulder. GEELONG speedster Travis Varcoe is expected to need surgery that will keep him out of action for up to three months after he dislocated his left shoulder in the Cats' 16-point win over Carlton at Etihad Stadium. Both teams had to activate their substitutes at quarter time after losing key players to injury in the first term. Varcoe went straight up the race in the 24th minute clutching his shoulder, while Blues ruckman Matthew Kreuzer followed four minutes later with a suspected fractured thumb. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks. "He's had a wretched run poor Trav," Geelong coach Chris Scott said after the match. We don't know exactly what the prognosis is, suffice to say that it doesn't look good. If surgery's an option, and a long-term lay-off is going to get him right for the end of the season or even for next year, that's the way we'd go. Giant blow with Patton to miss season Geelong led by as much six goals in the final quarter but had to withstand a barnstorming Carlton finish. In doing so the Cats stretched their unbeaten streak against Carlton at the Docklands venue to 11 wins, dating back to their first meeting in 2002. Scott said it would be foolhardy to give opposition teams too many chances to win, as Geelong has done in each of its three wins this season, but "we do have a degree of confidence that when the game's on the line and we need players to step up that that is going to happen." There was a controversial moment at the 17 minute mark of the final term when a streaker ran onto the field and was tackled to the ground on the boundary by security guards. It came just after Jimmy Bartel had passed to Steve Johnson, 30 metres out directly in front of goal. Instead of having the chance to kick the sealer, Johnson had to return the ball to Bartel and his next kick ended up being swept to the other end of the ground. Scott said he was "confused" by the incident as he did think the ground invader had affected play. Blues' cruel third strike "The only thing I'll say is that when Jim kicked the ball to Steve, the streaker didn't appear to affect play at all," Scott said. But there's rules in place and we're happy to abide by them. Carlton coach Mick Malthouse held a very short media conference after the match. It is only the fourth time since World War II that Carlton has lost the opening three matches of the season. The most recent occasion was in 2008 when the Blues lost to Richmond, St Kilda and Essendon before bouncing back with a 23-point win over Collingwood in Round 4. They finished 11th that year. Malthouse, who had spoken in the pre-season about making the Blues a more defensive unit, has now watched his team concede more than 100 points in every match this season. It is the first time Carlton has done so in three consecutive matches since midway through 2009. Under Malthouse the Blues' points-against average has blown out to 114 per game, whereas it averaged 88 points against in games last season. Taylor Hunt was superb for the Cats, kicking three goals from 17 disposals and limiting Carlton skipper Marc Murphy's influence. Mathew Stokes, Steve Johnson. Allen Christensen and Harry Taylor were also outstanding. Geelong's 3-0 start to the season emulates its first three rounds from its premiership seasons of 2011 and 2009.