Versatility gets Black down back
“The short answer would be yes,” Hinkley said. “You don’t want to let anyone do too much damage to you if you can avoid it.
“But then we’re hopeful that we can cause them equally as many challenges the other way.
“That’s for our midfielders to use against them and try to get on top early. FORMER North Melbourne forward Aaron Black will be trialled in defence as Geelong VFL coach Shane O’Bree tries to add “a string to his bow”.
The Cats are light on in key defensive stocks, but O’Bree said Black’s ability to read the play made him a potential swingman.
And with a number of tall forwards ahead of Black in pursuit of an AFL spot, O’Bree said there might be an opening for the 27-year-old in defence.
“He’s been training a little bit down back,” O’Bree said.
“He obviously reads the play really well, so he might be a chance to play a little bit of game time down there over the next couple of weeks to have a look at him and add that string to his bow.
“It’s about opportunity, but we also know ‘Blacky’ is a very good forward for us anyway as a VFL forward.
“If he adds that string to his bow he can be a good swingman for us.”
Eyes will also be on ruckman Zac Smith, who was vocal during the week about the need for him to fight to be Geelong’s No. 1 ruck.
“I thought around the ground Zac really had an impact,” O’Bree said of Smith’s game last weekend.
“His ruck craft is OK, but obviously he’ll be after a complete four-quarter game this week to put his hand up for selection. His attitude has been fantastic. He’s been in the system a long time and been at our club for a few years now, so we lean on him as a leader to really control the stoppages for us.”
The Cats face Footscray today, which is coming off a huge win over Coburg last round. Geelong fell narrowly short to Sandringham last weekend, with O’Bree imploring his players to stop runs of momentum against them.
“(There was) probably a five-minute chunk in the second quarter and a five-minute chunk in the last quarter where we lost our way a little bit,” he said. “That’s probably been the biggest talking point this week, how we stop those momentum swings.
“It wasn’t so much structure, a bit of it was concentration and positioning at the right time to actually control certain players that were in that contest.”
O’Bree said the Cats would look to nullify Footscray’s slick ball movement to help them get back on the winners’ list.
Sam McLachlan, Sam Dobson and James Gow have all been named to play for Geelong at GMHBA Stadium today, starting at 2pm.