Geelong captain Joel Selwood is in doubt to face Adelaide after sustaining a “niggle” in the Cats’ win against Port Adelaide last Friday.
“We are managing him, he’s no certainty to play this week,” Cats coach Chris Scott said in a press conference yesterday.
“He’s got a little niggle that might cost him a week or so.”
Fellow midfielder Jack Steven is likely to return, with Scott almost guaranteeing the former Saint will play against Adelaide on Sunday.
“Jack will play, I’m happy to say [that] although we haven’t picked the team yet,” he said.
“Being such a strong part of our plan, that’s almost a given right at the moment.
“We’ve been leaving decisions quite late to make sure that we’ve got all of the information but it’s likely that he would play.”
But tall forward Josh Jenkins will miss out on making his debut for the Cats against his old side, according to Scott.
“He won’t play this week but he is tracking in the right direction,” he said.
“It was really frustrating for him and us that he looked really good through pre-season and then he had an innocuous back spasm.
“The good news is he looks really sharp at the moment.
“We are in a position with the availability with the big guys where we can take our time, which I think will be better for him [and] for us in the long term.”
Scott said the Cats would not underestimate the win-less Crows.
“We need to concentrate on our game as much as we normally do but we also need to be respectful of the opposition irrespective of their position on the ladder or their recent form.”
Earlier in the week, Brandon Parfitt spoke about the significance of playing in the Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
The annual round celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and their contributions to Australian Football.
“Obviously, being Indigenous and growing up with all of my family being Indigenous, it’s pretty special and you jot these dates in when you know you’re playing in these games,” Parfitt said on Tuesday.
The young midfielder has had a standout season in 2020, showing superb courage and commitment to ground-level contests.
Parfitt is averaging 15 disposals and seven tackles a game in 2020 and is rated elite for pressure acts in the competition.
After back-to-back wins against top four hopefuls Port Adelaide and St Kilda, Parfitt was pleased with Geelong’s form.
“At the start of the year I think we were a bit up and down with our performances, but I think the last month we have strung some really good games together where we played really strong football for four quarters and we were able to knock off two really good sides in the last two weeks now.”
The Cats should easily get the job done against Adelaide, despite the Crows’ home ground advantage.
But the Cats have a tendency to let down their guard against lesser-ranked teams, as they did in their round 3 loss to the Blues and narrow three-point escape against the Demons in round 4.
Provided the Cats turn up to play, Adelaide will still be looking for its first win of the season after Sunday.
Cats by 46 points
