MENZEL NEEDLE SETBACK

GEELONG forward Dan Menzel has suffered another injury setback, with a bad reaction to a pain-relief injection sidelining him for tomorrow night’s clash against GWS Giants.

Rested from the clash against Sydney in a bid to overcome groin problems that have troubled him for the best part of 18 months, Menzel will miss a second-straight match after failing to train this week.

“It might sound hard to believe, but last week we took him out with a groin issue that he has managed for a long time,” Cats coach Chris Scott said yesterday.

“As much as anything, it was a precautionary move. He had an injection that he had a reaction to, which has meant he hasn’t been able to train this week.

“Potentially those things are really serious, I’m told, and tests were undertaken to make sure there was no infection and that’s the case.

“They expect it to turn around pretty quickly, but not quick enough to play this week.”

Scott said the injection was designed to alleviate a niggling groin injury, but he was unclear on further details about the procedure.

The news is more positive for key defender Harry Taylor, who returned to full training yesterday after battling plantar fascia for almost two months.

Taylor is likely to return within a fortnight.

“We expect him to be uninhibited (at training), which is a good sign for the following week,” Scott said.

“We need to work through a little bit more before we decide if we bring him straight back into the AFL team, but the likelihood is he’ll play football next week.”

Scott Selwood (concussion) will almost certainly return, while fellow midfielder George Horlin-Smith remains in doubt after suffering a head knock in the loss to Sydney.

Brandan Parfitt (foot) will not play and a timeframe on a return is unclear.

“Our medical staff don’t think it’s very serious. They’re certainly not saying it’s a long-term thing,” Scott said.

Despite an interrupted start to the season, he believes Patrick Dangerfield is nearing full fitness after battling back, hamstring and calf complaints.

“His progression has been relatively consistent, he’s just behind where he would’ve liked to have been,” Scott said. “He didn’t play Round 1, he had a cork in his calf and those things are much more common than people give them credit for. But that has held him up a bit. “He has been a bit sore.” Ruckman Zac Smith is one of a number of Cats in the mix for a recall as Geelong looks to fix its ruck issues.