AFL pair given free rein
EXCITING youngster Jordan Clark will be free to play his natural game today when the Geelong VFL team takes on Port Melbourne in the second elimination final.
Clark is returning from an elbow injury suffered in a training mishap earlier this month and is likely to spend most of his time on the wing ahead of a potential recall to the senior team next week.
Veteran defender Lachie Henderson, who played in the Round 23 AFL win against Carlton, will also line up for Geelong, and coach Shane O’Bree said both would be used in their usual roles against the Borough.
“You definitely want to play them in their preferred position and whatever is going to help them play at AFL level,” O’Bree said.
“But for Jordy, like the majority of our players coming off injury, it is about getting them into the game and feeling confident with where they’re at in form as quickly as possible.
“Even though it is an elbow injury, Jordy has been able to run a fair bit so he should be fit and it is probably just footy touch early on where he might be a bit rusty but he has had plenty of footy content in the past couple of weeks.
“‘Hendo’ will play and has played a fair bit of VFL footy as well as AFL footy and had a really good year at both levels, so he will help us with his leadership and composure. His attitude has been fantastic.”
The Cats defeated Port Melbourne by 23 points when the two sides met earlier this month, a performance O’Bree said his playing group would take plenty of confidence from.
“The back half of the year we have been getting better, and the chemistry and development of the group has continued to grow,” he said.
“Playing Port Melbourne a month ago, we took a lot of confidence out of that game because that is where you play the majority of finals and they are a very good team.
“So it will be a good challenge for us, and we are expecting it to be very heated early.” MEANWHILE Geelong’s VFLW team will take on Melbourne Uni in an 11.45am curtain-raiser to the men’s clash at North Port Oval.
The Cats have lost both times the teams have met in 2019 but will need to find a way to win to ensure they advance to the second week of finals.