Geelong’s Selwood ‘looks okay’ after cork

Geelong’s Selwood ‘looks okay’ after cork

Geelong skipper Joel Selwood appears likely to be on deck for the Cats’ AFL clash against North Melbourne this weekend.

The veteran suffered a corked quad early in the first quarter of his side’s impressive win over reigning premiers Richmond last weekend and didn’t finish the game.

‘We think so. We’re not exactly sure but the signs are looking okay,’ Geelong coach Chris Scott said when asked if Selwood would play on Saturday in Hobart.

Geelong skipper Joel Selwood (left) appears likely to be on deck for the Cats’ AFL clash against North Melbourne this weekend

‘He was hobbling around for the few days post-game. It’s a wait-and-see approach. He’s not bad enough for us to rule him out just yet.

‘Besides the cork his body is really good. It’ll come down to the cork and whether he’s right to play and assessing the risk.’

Scott said he faced some selection headaches towards the pointy end of the season, describing his squad as being in ‘pretty good shape’ overall health-wise.

The versatility of ruck-forward Esava Ratugolea, who notched a career-best four goals last round, is likely to hold him in good stead at the selection table when key forward Jeremy Cameron returns from a hamstring injury.

‘We’re obviously working through the make-up of our team, it’s not just the tall players,’ Scott said.

‘There’s a lot of guys we think are playing well enough to deliver on the AFL stage. (Esava) has at least a couple of weeks to continue playing well and make that headache even stronger.’

Scott said grand final squad member Sam Simpson was working toward an AFL return after he suffered a hamstring injury in May.

‘We’ve been cautious and slow in his return to playing. He has some pretty good match conditions under his belt now and will come into the frame.’

The second-placed Cats will fly to Tasmania on the day of the game against the last-placed Kangaroos, whose solid recent form has delivered three wins from their past five games.

‘We consider it a real challenge, we’ve got respect for the way they’re going about it,’ Scott said.

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