JEZ WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED
Caution remains key
Key Cat Lachie Henderson (pictured) was set to have his hands full with West Coast’s tall and potent forward line on Saturday. But Henderson and the Geelong defence have earned a reprieve, with Eagles forward Josh Kennedy not making the flight to Geelong after succumbing to an ankle injury.
ESAVA Ratugolea remains a few weeks away from an AFL return as he continues his comeback from a fractured leg.
Ratugolea, who looms as a key addition as a second ruck and tall forward, starred in the VFL on Sunday against North Melbourne and is building his fitness base for the second half of the season.
He had been sidelined since late February after a kick to the leg where he had previously had a fracture in his fibula.
Ratugolea played in a series of practice matches ahead of Round 1 and was one of Geelong’s best players in the VFL season-opener.
He is set to line up against an AFL Academy side on Saturday at GMHBA Stadium.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said the Cats would continue to take a cautious approach with the 22-year-old.
“I’m always tempted to play Esava. I can see the possibility in what he could deliver at AFL level,” Scott said.
“Our position has been to give him the best chance to come in and play well at AFL level and that requires a certain amount of preparation that we just don’t think he’s had yet.
“For too long, he’s played at less than his absolute best due to a lack of preparation.
“I don’t want to be held to it because circumstances might change in the next couple of weeks, but I’d just love to see him come in and deliver what he’s capable of over a sustained period of time.”
Scott said the leg fracture was “absolutely a thing of the past” and that he hoped he would be ready for an AFL return “within a month”.
“That’s why the match practice is really valuable because through this period of the year it’s difficult to get that type of conditioning work in your training because we just don’t have the time or the numbers to do that sort of work,” he said.
“Obviously when you have a lower leg fracture, there’s not much running being done in that time off.”
It comes as Geelong prepares to be without superstar Patrick Dangerfield for an “indefinite” period of time following ankle surgery to the syndesmosis joint.
Scott said the prolonged lay off would help Dangerfield in his recovery from an off-season groin complaint.
“He’d be a bit flat but I think, the same as the rest of the club, (he’s) looking forward to seeing how we can go with a few other faces in the team and see if we can get ourselves in a good enough position so when he comes back, he can contribute to a good system,” he said.
“I’m more comfortable saying it now — he, after the year he had last year being really interrupted with his groin issue, the extra time to get his ankle right is not going to hurt his groin.”