Selwood is back to face Kangaroos, Cats hope Ablett can return

INSPIRATIONAL captain Joel Selwood will return for Geelong and coach Chris Scott says his hamstring injury will not impact how he is used in the Cats’ fixture cram.

And Scott says he is remaining hopeful Gary Ablett will play some role for the Cats this season after returning to Geelong to be with his family – but is unclear on how the Victorian State of Disaster will affect his training and potential return. He is currently training in Geelong with former teammate Andrew Mackie.

Selwood suffered a hamstring injury against Collingwood in Round 7, but Scott said he should return against North Melbourne on Wednesday and the hamstring injury won’t define how Selwood was used in Geelong’s schedule.

“I think his injury history is insignificant,” Scott said. “He has had the one injury this year that was a bit out of the blue, unrelated to anything he has had in the past.’’

Charlie Constable will miss with concussion.

Scott said there was no update on when Ablett might look to resume, after returning to Geelong from Perth to be with family and son Levi – who has been diagnosed with a rare degenerative condition.

“It’s a bit hard to tell at the moment, my priority at least is making sure we stay out of his way so he can prioritise the most important things in his life at the moment,” he said.

“Nothing negative to report, initially we said he need to prioritise his private life, we were still optimistic that he plays some footy towards the end of the season and I haven’t heard anything that changes that.”