Ash Bolt
Geelong could be without important young defender Jack Henry for this weekend’s clash with North Melbourne after he suffered a foot injury on Easter Monday.
Henry was subbed out in the third quarter of the 12-point loss to the Hawks after stepping on an opponent’s foot.
Henry had surgery in January to fix a bone stress injury in the same foot, where a rod was inserted.
Henry has been named in the extended squad for the game but the club is awaiting the result of scans before deciding whether he will need time on the sidelines.
“Jack had an acute injury on the same foot as he had his previous injury during the preseason,” Geelong head of medical and conditioning services Harry Taylor said.
“We’ll take a cautious approach with his reloading and get some further imaging done to investigate further.”
Henry has emerged as a key piece in Geelong’s defensive line, with the young defender finishing runner-up in last year’s Carji Greeves Medal count behind Tom Stewart.
However the news is better for defender Jed Bews, who is expected to be fit to play after suffering a subluxation of his left shoulder against Hawthorn.
Bews didn’t play out the game, missing most of the final quarter, but will have to pass a fitness test before taking the field on Sunday.
“Jed Bews got a knock on his shoulder. We expect him to be available this week,” Taylor said.
Star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield will also have to prove his fitness after pulling up sore after Monday’s game.
“Patrick Dangerfield had a cork in the game, relatively early in the contest and managed to play out the game,” Taylor said.
“We’ll monitor him throughout the rest of the week.”
There were no outs in the extended squad released on Thursday, with Shaun Higgins, Esava Ratugolea and potential debutant Ollie Dempsey added to the squad.
Taylor said important wingman Sam Menegola was progressing well in his return from surgery to fix a meniscus injury in October.
However the wingman will need more time in the reserves before breaking into in the AFL team, having only played one game this season.
Menegola missed the last two games after he was concussed in his VFL return on April 2, and will be forced to sit on the sidelines again this week with the VFL team having a bye.
Taylor said Menegola would continue to build up his training load and fitness before stepping into the AFL team.
“Sam is reintegrating into full contact training,” he said.
“He’s building his loads following the concussion protocols.”
Taylor said Gary Rohan was also continuing to progress well as he worked towards full fitness after spending much of the preseason sidelined with hip and back sciatica.
Jonathon Ceglar (foot), Quinton Narkle (ankle) and Sam Simpson (concussion) are working through recoveries.
Taylor said the Cats’ medical and conditioning team was pleased with the progress of three young Cats who were reaching milestones in their rehab.
Flynn Kroeger (hip) will return to full training later this week, while James Willis (knee) has started into football drills at training and Toby Conway (hip) continues to build his loads.
Captain Joel Selwood said he was looking forward to bouncing back at Blundstone Arena against the struggling Kangaroos, after a poor final quarter cost the Cats a win in the traditional Easter Monday clash.
The Cats led by 13 points several minutes into the final quarter of the traditional Easter Monday clash before the Hawks kicked the final four goals of the game to claim the 14.8 (92) to 11.14 (80) win.
“We pride ourselves on making sure we finish off games well, so it’s a friendly reminder that if you’re a bit off … it doesn’t take much for the next side to come up [and take the win],” Selwood said.
“It’s actually nice that we’ve got a six-day break so we can turn this around pretty quick.”
