CATS TO WALK TALL

HENDO IN THE FRAME

GEELONG is expected to go tall with its replacement for suspended spearhead Tom Hawkins in tomorrow night’s preliminary final against Richmond.

Defender Lachie Henderson, who has played only five matches this season, is tipped to earn a recall, with the Cats reluctant to tinker with their structure of playing two key forwards. Harry Taylor is also firmly in the picture to go forward to support Esava Ratugolea.

GEELONG is expected to go tall when selecting a replacement for Tom Hawkins in its do-or-die preliminary final against Richmond tomorrow night.

The Cats are loathe to tinker with a structure — playing two key forwards — that took them to top position in the home-and-away season.

They seem likely to play Harry Taylor or Lachie Henderson forward alongside Esava Ratugolea.

This would allow Geelong to still create chaos opportunities in its forward line with the type of ground balls that fed its smaller brigade against West Coast last Friday night.

Henderson, 29, would be an intriguing selection, having played just five games in defence this season and seven games last year.

The last time he played forward for Geelong was an unsuccessful stint during the 2017 finals against Richmond and Adelaide.

But he played well in attack during three of his six seasons at Carlton, and spent much of his junior life as a forward before being a more permanent defender at the Cats.

Geelong will be desperate to ensure Richmond defenders Dylan Grimes, David Astbury and Nick Vlastuin are kept accountable, just as it was able to keep West Coast pair Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass in check during last week’s semi-final.

Henderson’s role would be to compete as much as to win the ball.

He would need to be predictable, along with Ratugolea, for his crumbing teammates.

Henderson played the last four games of the home-andaway season before being overlooked for Geelong’s two finals.

The option for the Cats is to go with Gary Rohan or James Parsons providing a slightly smaller alternative with more emphasis on run in the knowledge that the Tigers are not overly tall down back with Alex Rance injured.

Rohan averaged two goals and exerted influential pressure in the first 10 rounds ,but his recent form has been more subdued.