PICK ME, SCOTTY
Fit-again Guthrie declares he is ready to go
NEWLY re-signed Geelong utility Cam Guthrie has declared he will put his hand up for AFL selection after two solid outings in the VFL. Guthrie underwent surgery on the syndesmosis joint in his right ankle after his Round 3 injury and has since built up the miles in his legs at training and in VFL matches against North Melbourne and Port Melbourne. He said he was now ready to make the final step in his recov- ery, eyeing off a return against the Bulldogs next Friday.
“From my understanding, the two games in the VFL is what we set out to achieve and we did that, so I’d say I’d put my hand up for AFL selection heading into next week,” Guthrie said yesterday.
“It just depends on whether the coaches want me back and whether they think I’ll contribute enough.
“I’ve played a couple of games in the VFL now since my ankle injury. We play the Bulldogs after the bye and I think I’ll be up for selection, so depending on the way coaches want to go I’ll be pretty much ready to go.”
Guthrie played three quarters in his return match a fortnight ago against the Kangaroos and clocked up almost 8km, pushing that to around 11 on the weekend against Port Melbourne.
The 25-year-old, who was locked away on a three-year deal, said he had never entertained the thought of leaving the Cats, with the club yesterday confirming the Geelong Advertiser’s report on Tuesday that Guthrie would extend his time at GMHBA Stadium beyond this season.
Guthrie has spent his time off during the bye training at the club and will now take part in the Gold Coast training camp this weekend, saying his focus was simply on ensuring Geelong maintained its work rate in the second half of the season.
“On the weekend we were a bit outclassed, we’re not far off the pace but we’ve still got work to do and we acknowledge that,” he said.
“Hopefully in the back end of the year we can bring it all together and anything can happen, and hopefully we can have a healthy list and we can go from there.”