FREMANTLE
SLOWLY but surely, Geelong is building towards its ideal team for September.
As Chris Scott touched on after last week’s game against Sydney, the Cats hierarchy is still to determine what its best 22 looks like, but it is getting close.
The inclusions this week of Zach Tuohy and Gary Rohan are welcome additions to a side that has been below its best for the better part of six weeks, but, importantly, they do not come at the expense of any injuries.
The two players to make way for Tuohy and Rohan are in vastly different situations.
Harry Taylor has returned to some of his best form in 2019 and, at 33, was due a rest before what could be a lengthy finals campaign, while James Parsons was always the player most likely to be dropped after not quite making the most of his recall to the senior side.
His position has been somewhat symptomatic of the team’s in recent weeks, but while so much has been written and spoken about some of the premiership fancies further up the highway and, indeed, across the border, Geelong has not lost any confidence since the bye despite a three-three split of wins and losses.
Moreover, the health of the list combined with the standing of the VFL team so close to finals places the Cats in an enviable position.
As we have seen throughout the year, Scott has been prepared to manage players out of the team and bring them back as required, but he has been rightly cautious to speak openly about the blessed run Geelong has had regarding the health of its list this year — something it has not been able to say for some time.
“I am loath to talk at length about a good injury list because it can change in the blink of an eye,” he said.
“But what we have worked towards is a big squad of players that we think can play in any given week and we have tended not to prioritise necessarily what we think is the best 22 over the last month or so, and (instead) get some game time into guys we think are deserving of the opportunity.
“So Scott Selwood, James Parsons and Zac Smith fit into that category for us and it is exciting for us at the moment, we have Nakia Cockatoo coming back to play his first game in the VFL for about 12 months. So it is positive, but I have learnt through harsh experience that getting ahead of yourself on the injury front is a dangerous thing to do.”
Flirting with form so close to finals is one thing, but ensuring the health and wellbeing of your key personnel for the big games is paramount, so it should not surprise that the trend of managing players is likely to continue.
In the background, though, Geelong is edging closer to settling on its preferred side, and while it might not be that we get to see what that looks like until the first week of finals, it is encouraging that all available options will have been considered and trialled for when it matters most.