Harry’s hard recovery road
J. Riewoldt (Richmond) 10, B. Brown (North Melbourne) 4 L. Franklin (Sydney) 2 T. Hawkins (Geelong) 1, L. Breust (Hawthorn) 2 J. Hogan (Melbourne) 1 J. Gunston (Hawthorn) 2, T. McDonald (Melbourne) 2 A. Saad (concussion), B. Goddard (knee), C. Hooker (knee), O. Fantasia (hamstring). P. Hanley (h’string), W. Brodie (h’string). N. Vardy (knee). C. Dixon (ankle), D. Houston (concussion), P. Ryder (hip). D. Gardiner (shoulder). H. Shaw (knee), J. Kelly (concussion), S. Reid (hamstring). Z Cordy (fractured forehead). A. John (knee), N. Smith (hamstring). J Hunt (ankle). M. Walters (hamstring). GEELONG veteran Harry Taylor says he will let the coaches decide when he is ready for an AFL call-up after successfully returning through the Cats’ VFL win over Essendon on Saturday night.
The 32-year-old has played just five AFL games this season due to two different foot issues, but returned to the reserves on Saturday night for his first game since tearing a tendon in his foot against Sydney on July 5.
Lining up at full-forward for most of the night, the two-time premiership player had two kicks, six handballs, two marks, four tackles and a goal in wet conditions at GMHBA Stadium.
Taylor said he was just happy to be back representing the Cats.
“Not ideal conditions for a forward but still great to be back out playing some footy,” Taylor said.
“It’s always nice to put on the Geelong jumper and I haven’t done that as much as I would have liked this year, so it’s always a pretty humbling thing when you get to put it on and good to get the win.”
Taylor said hours of cardio work, including underwater swimming while holding his breath, had helped him maintain an aerobic fitness base, which should have him in the mix for an AFL return when Chris Scott calls.
“The metrics and the numbers, the staff will be able to work through that, but sometimes it’s up to the individual and how they feel and I felt pretty good out there,” he said.
“The foot’s fine. I played the majority of the game, albeit a little bit managed, but the foot feels pretty good so that’s a good sign.
“I didn’t get a great deal of the footy or wasn’t in a heap of contests, but one thing we’re very lucky to do at Geelong is train at an intensity that is very much game-like.
“I just have to see how that works out, but our training is at a really high standard most weeks and that allows you to get into that game mode a lot quicker than maybe if we took it easy on the track throughout the week.”
The Cats boasted a tall forward line, with Taylor lining up alongside Wylie Buzza (two goals), Ryan Gardner and Ryan Abbott for most of the night.
“At times it’s a little bit difficult to fit us all in but we managed that pretty well, albeit on a slippery night I thought we were able to keep the ball in our forward half pretty well and contribute on the scoreboard and create a contest,” Taylor said.
“Obviously we’re very young down there — I’m probably the oldest by about 40 years — but it’s a group that’s young and developing and just have to learn how to play the conditions and certain situations.”
VFL REPORTS: PAGE 28 Richmond West Coast GWS Giants Hawthorn Collingwood Sydney Melbourne Port Adelaide 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 64 60 54 52 52 52 48 48 139.7 123.4 120.4 121.2 118.3 109.7 130.5 113.9 16 15 13 13 13 13 12 12