Geelong are set to welcome back several stars for Saturday’s AFL finals-shaping clash with Gold Coast.
The Cats made light of the late withdrawals of champion midfielder Steve Johnson (sore back) and key defender Jared Rivers (sore knee) on Sunday as they coasted to a 96-point win over a desperately disappointing St Kilda.
The Geelong selectors are set for a busy week, with ruckman Hamish McIntosh and small defender Jed Bews rested against the Saints.
Premiership-winning forward Allen Christensen is also ready for his first senior start of 2014 after recovering from back surgery, while the club is eager to give a long-awaited AFL debut to key forward Shane Kersten, who booted six goals in the VFL this weekend.
Coach Chris Scott said Johnson could probably have played against the Saints if required.
“He’s had a back issue that’s been good enough to play the last couple of weeks, but wasn’t quite good enough this week,” Scott said.
“It’s not a huge issue.
“… it was getting to the point where he hadn’t trained much, so we wanted to make sure that he got some training in before he tackled two six-day breaks in a row.”
Rivers would also be a welcome inclusion against a Gold Coast side which boasts three tall forwards in Charlie Dixon, Sam Day and Tom Lynch, and which came up just short in a three-point loss to West Coast in Perth on Saturday.
“They’ve got three big forwards and a really top-line midfield,” Scott said.
“They’re almost young and experienced at the moment, their midfield, which is a pretty good mix.
“And they go right to the end, as we saw over in Perth yesterday.
“We won’t be going into the game with any luxuries.
“We’ll be attacking it pretty hard.”
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