YOUNG RUCK BACK ON TRACK IN QUEST FOR DEBUT

AN injury-interrupted start to his AFL career does not mean Geelong ruck Toby Conway will be put in cotton wool this year, with the local teen still a chance to debut after the club’s mid-season bye.

Taken with Geelong’s first choice, and the 24th overall at last year’s draft, the St Mary’s junior (pictured) has not played at any level this season after picking up a hip complaint.

But the 205cm big man has been active at training recently working with Cats great Brad Ottens and is closing in on his VFL debut.

Conway had shown enough in pre-season to have the Cats buoyant he could play AFL in his first season on the list and coach Chris Scott still has high hopes for the 19-year-old.

Scott said the medical staff was “just putting the finishing touches” on Conway before he played VFL and an AFL debut could then be only a month down the track if he performed well. “It will be a staged integration to VFL footy and then I am not sure about what the timeline is, maybe it’s 4-6 weeks, that we start thinking about his performance and how close he is to AFL footy,” he said.