Geelong star Tom Stewart has been cleared of a major knee injury and has a chance to play in the AFL blockbuster against Brisbane in round three.
Stewart was hurt when his knee jammed into the hard Marvel Stadium surface during the Cats’ surprise seven-point defeat to St Kilda on Saturday night.
He limped off and was taken to the dressing room for treatment, reappearing for a brief period with his right knee strapped before being substituted out of the game.
“In positive news, scans on Monday morning have ruled out any serious injury to Tom’s right knee,” Geelong football manager Andrew Mackie said in a statement.
“With two training sessions remaining before we head to Brisbane, Tom will be closely monitored throughout the week and will be a test to play against the Lions on Saturday night.”
Bailey Smith also has a chance to feature against the Lions despite being a late withdrawal from the St Kilda clash with a calf injury.
On Saturday night, Cats coach Chris Scott said his boom midfield recruit had been “very close” to playing against the Saints.
“If they’re a chance to play we tend to give them as long as possible and then tend to be conservative unless they’re absolutely right,” Scott said.
“The conservative nature of the decision-making suggests to me that he’ll be right next week.”
Geelong (1-1) head north to play reigning premiers Brisbane (2-0) at the Gabba in a match that was originally set to be the season opener but was rescheduled due to Cyclone Alfred.
Winless Essendon will be without youngsters Elijah Tsatas (finger) and Archie Perkins (quad) for their match against Port Adelaide on Thursday night.
Tsatas will require surgery after breaking a finger in the warm-up before gathering a career-high 25 disposals in the Bombers’ 61-point humbling at the hands of Adelaide.
“This was a fairly innocuous one but he was able to play in a game under some duress and still perform well,” Essendon coach Brad Scott said.
“It requires surgery, but we’ve got a bye after this game so we only expect him to miss one game.”
The Bombers will regain defender Jordan Ridley from concussion protocols but gun midfielder Darcy Parish (back) will have to prove his fitness at VFL level.
