RATUGOLEA RUNNING OUT OF TIME
GEELONG’S elimination final on Friday night will arrive too soon for first-season sensation Esava Ratugolea, who has all but been ruled out by coach Chris Scott. Ratugolea battled in Geelong’s VFL finals loss to Casey on Saturday, his second comeback match from a broken leg suffered in Round 10. The 20-year-old was off the pace at a blustery Casey Fields, leading Scott to label a recall to senior football “unlikely”. It means the Cats are likely to keep their faith in Ryan Abbott, the 27-year-old former Grovedale ruckman with three AFL games to his credit, as they look to find a way to keep AllAustralian ruckman Max Gawn in check. “The likelihood is that Sav would need at least another game in the VFL, which he will get this week on the back of the team losing,” Scott said yesterday. “Everyone’s timing was out at Casey Fields with the wind yesterday. It was a hard day for big forwards and a tough day for our VFL team overall.” The coach will need to make a call on big man Rhys Stanley, who subdued Gawn in their most recent meeting, but has played only once in a month as he battles a calf problem.
“We brought him back after missing a week for the Hawthorn game . . . and didn’t get through the first quarter,” Scott told the Sunday Footy Show.
“Gawn is clearly a great player, so we are going to struggle enough with 22 players on the field. We can’t afford to lose one. So that’s probably the thing foremost in our thinking.”
The Cats lost by 91 points in the VFL on Saturday and will play a semifinal this Sunday.
Melbourne was buoyed by the sight of captain Jack Viney at training for the first time in two months.
The Demons had several players pushing on the door for their first final in 12 years with strong showings.
Jayden Hunt, Cam Pedersen, Mitch Hannan and Tom Bugg impressed, while Joel Smith returned from a collarbone injury.
“They all in various ways had a big impact on the game,” Demons VFL coach Jade Rawlings said.