ROHAN STAKES CLAIM
GEELONG coach Chris Scott is confident Gary Rohan will be available to help fill the void left by suspended forward Tom Hawkins in Friday night’s preliminary final against Richmond.
The worst fears over Hawkins’s availability for the blockbuster MCG clash were confirmed on Monday night when his one-match ban for striking West Coast’s Will Schofield was upheld by the AFL Tribunal.
Speedy forward Rohan missed the semi-final win against the Eagles with a knee injury suffered in the qualifying final loss to Collingwood.
But he pressed his claim for a return at training at GMHBA Stadium yesterday.
“It looks to us like Gary Rohan will be available,” Scott said.
“I don’t think he’s a lock to play, but we’ve got optimism … it’s progressing pretty well.”
Mitch Duncan will miss again with his knee injury, but the Cats are “optimistic” he will be a chance to play in the grand final if they make it.
Patrick Dangerfield did not appear for the warm-up of the training session but Scott stressed the superstar midfielder was not in any doubt to play as he completed an individual program.
Even if Rohan wins his fitness battle, he is not a likefor-like replacement for the powerful Hawkins, who has kicked 56 goals this season. But then no one is. “We haven’t got a Tom Hawkins replacement, so we’ll be different, but different is not necessarily worse,” Scott said.
Hawkins’s suspension was the ninth time he had run foul of the match-review process since the 2016 season.