GOT YOUR BACK, JACK
Cats to play it safe with scratch match for Steven
BOOM Geelong recruit Jack Steven appears set to miss Saturday’s clash against Carlton, with the Cats keen to continue their conservative approach with the former St Kilda champion.
Steven was close to being selected last week against Hawthorn, but with no injuries of note from the Cats’ strong win, players outside the 22 may need to wait to come into the side.
Jake Kolodjashnij could also be forced to join Steven and a host of teammates in Saturday afternoon’s scratch match for non-selected players against the Blues.
But coach Chris Scott said it was a good predicament for the Cats.
“It is a good problem for us to have and it is not one that we have had a whole lot of in seasons past,” Scott said.
“We know this season is unique in its own right … but there are other issues that are a little bit uncharted for us.
“We have got some guys who we think are in really good training form and have benefited from the lockdown, but Jake Kolodjashnij, for example, hasn’t played footy since finals last year and Jack Steven has only played the Colac game in March.
“We didn’t have the opportunity for match practice last week, which was disappointing for us, but we do have that chance this week.
“So we are just trying to work through whether we change a team that is in good form — albeit off only one game — and fit when we have the opportunity to get some match practice into some guys and make a more conservative call.
“It is more than likely he (Steven) will play the practice match against Carlton.”
“That is a conservative call but it is just the fact that we have an opportunity for him to get some match practice that he hasn’t been able to get for the last three or four months.”
Midfielder Nakia Cockatoo will play in Saturday’s match simulation with the Blues, having increased his workload on the track in recent weeks.
Scott said the Cats were more than happy to play “the long game” with Cockatoo.
“I don’t think we need to get out the brass band for Nakia just yet,” he said.
“It will be a couple of blocks of match ‘sim’ for him against Carlton and from a load perspective it won’t be a jump on what he has been doing, but we know the tension rises a little bit when you have got a genuine opposition there.
“We don’t want to put too much pressure on him, there are still quite a few steps between this week and him getting back to AFL level.
“So we are excited about it but we don’t want to get prematurely optimistic because that has proved mentally challenging for me in the past in particular.
“We love him and we want to see him back, but we are playing the long game with Nakia and I’m still confident he will be a long-term player for us.”