ACTION JACKSON
Out of favour backman gets his chance
GEELONG has recalled seemingly out-of-favour defender Jackson Thurlow for tomorrow night’s blockbuster with Port Adelaide, but ruckman Zac Smith clearly has some work to do to make his way back into the fold.
Thurlow came into the side at the expense of Zach Guthrie, while James Parsons was also brought back in after a week off to replace the injured Cory Gregson.
Gregson trained away from the main group yesterday and appeared to have no trouble in running and kicking drills, and was seen smiling as he made his way from the track.
But the news for Smith was not so good, with the 206cm ruckman not in the 26-man squad.
The Cats opted instead to name Wylie Buzza as one of four emergencies, alongside Guthrie, George Horlin-Smith and Charlie Constable, who coach Chris Scott said was edging closer to an AFL debut.
Thurlow will help provide some run out of defence, and with Lachie Henderson and Harry Taylor a way off from returning, he may be required to play as a third tall at times against the Power.
Scott said while there was hope Henderson would play at some point in 2018 after a third operation on his troublesome knee this week was successful, the Cats were planning for life without him this year.
“We have no choice but to prepare for that,” the coach said.
“Fortunately the news on Harry Taylor is more positive, so we expect to get him back a lot quicker than Lachie.
“But I think the experience we’ve had over the first four rounds will help when we actually do get one or both of them back, so we’ve got contingencies.
“We’ve been pretty confident that they (our young defenders) could stand up . . . and in a perverse way, it’s actually good for them to be under the pump and find a way to prevail.”
Patrick Dangerfield ran laps after copping a knock to his calf in Sunday’s 47-point win over St Kilda, but was named as part of a midfield group that will again be feeding off the tap work of Rhys Stanley tomorrow.
Scott said it was encouraging Smith was working towards gaining more con- sistency in the VFL, with it appearing unlikely he and Stanley will play together this season.
“Zac Smith played well for us last week in the ruck and that is a constant conversation amongst our coaches and our match committee group as to how we manage those guys and whether we can play them all together,” the coach said.
“I think that’s a good attitude for him to take, (but) we’re open to the idea of them both playing.
“There are other factors that influence that. (Esava) Ratugolea coming into that mix and playing a little bit in the ruck (is one) and we’ve got (Mark) Blicavs as well.
“Previously we have played two ruckmen because we didn’t really have any other talls in the team, taking four in . . . might be a bridge too far.”
Cam Guthrie watched patches of training on a recovery scooter yesterday after having surgery on his syndesmosis last week, while Nakia Cockatoo had his left knee in a brace following the PCL injury he suffered in the Round 3 loss to West Coast.