Veteran forward-midfielder Shaun Higgins is set to play his 250th game against former side North Melbourne after knee soreness denied him the milestone last Sunday.
The 33-year-old was a late withdrawal prior to Geelong’s thrashing of Richmond but appears almost a certainty for Saturday afternoon, with small forward Gryan Miers out injured.
“[The soreness] was relatively minor,” Geelong Cats football general manager Simon Lloyd said on Wednesday.
“We’d expect him to be available this week.”
Higgins’ former side is currently on the bottom of the ladder.
But Cats coach Chris Scott was wary of the Kangaroos’ strengths following their resurgence in recent weeks, he told a press conference yesterday.
“The last month or so they’ve been well and truly in the top half of the ladder in a lot of key indicators, and they know the ground down there in Hobart well,” he said.
“They’ve been a real challenge for pretty good sides.”
The Cats will share a flight with the Kangaroos to Hobart for the game at Bluestone Arena, which Scott said would be his first coaching at the venue.
Captain Joel Selwood remained in doubt following a cork against the Tigers that left him “hobbling around for a few days post-game”, Scott said.
“He’s not bad enough for us to rule him out just yet.”
Scott remained optimistic that star forward Jeremy Cameron would return in time for finals.
“We think that’s probably a couple of weeks as it stands right at the moment although Jeremy’s looking in really good shape, so it might be a little sooner than that,” he said.
Esava Ratugolea has showcased his impressive overhead marking up forward in Cameron’s absence, leaving Scott with selection dilemma in a few weeks’ time.
Ratugolea could potentially replace Rhys Stanley in the ruck or a smaller forward to give the Cats an extra marking target when Cameron returns.
“The jury’s still out long-term as to whether Esava ends up as ruckman or key [forward],” Scott said.
The Cats are also working through “hypotheticals” other than their talls, according to Scott, with players like Sam Simpson fighting to get back into the side after sustaining injuries earlier in the year.
“He was in our preferred team in the [2020] grand final, which speaks to how we rate him,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that we think are playing well enough to deliver on the AFL stage.”
Scott sent his best wishes to North Melbourne star Ben Cunnington, who underwent surgery to remove a testicular tumour on Tuesday.
“We’ve had a lot of examples over the last 18 months that really make it hit home that, while footy feels like the most important thing in our existence most of the time, deep down we know it’s not,” he said.
“On behalf of the Geelong footy club, we hope that he comes through OK.”
