Selwood a chance to move into backline

GEELONG coach Chris Scott has hinted skipper Joel Selwood could spend more time in defence against Richmond tomorrow night as the Cats attempt to fill the gap left by Tom Stewart.

Stewart, who injured his ankle in last week’s win over Brisbane, will get “every chance” to play in the blockbuster at the MCG but Scott has all but conceded the key Cat will miss the game. Scott said Mark O’Connor and Zach Guthrie were leading the race to replace Stewart if the Cats decided to bring in a defender.

However there were a number of other options at their disposal including ruckman Ryan Abbott, forwards James Parsons and Jamaine Jones, and running players Jackson Thurlow and Jordan Murdoch.

Selwood spent 34 per cent of his game time against the Lions in Geelong’s defence, the third highest of his career. It was also the most he has played down there since Round 19, 2011.

The majority of that time down back came after Stewart went off injured.

Selwood also took a teamhigh four kick- ins.

Scott said the experiment could continue.

“I suspect we’ll have a few ( options) game day that we shift to,” Scott said.

“It’s been observed that we’ve played Joel Selwood back a little bit, and that’s definitely an option we have up our sleeve.

“So it will look a little bit different, but our backline has looked different at times this year and still been able to function OK.”