Geelong will be without gun recruit Bailey Smith for tomorrow night’s Community Series clash against Essendon at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats have selected 26 players to rotate through the contest, including young defender Connor O’Sullivan, who is well-placed to add to his lone AFL appearance in 2024 early in the season.
Tyson Stengle and Lawson Humphries return after missing last week’s match simulation against Hawthorn, having featured in the Indigenous All-Stars clash two days prior.
Captain Patrick Dangerfield says the club will be cautious with Smith, who hasn’t played since late 2023 after suffering a serious knee injury when still at the Western Bulldogs.
“He’s put his head down, his bum up, he’s got to work, and that’s been great to see,” Dangerfield said at the AFL’s annual captain’s day.
“He’s a really, really diligent trainer.
“If anything, our challenge has been pulling Bailey back at times and making sure that the broader world understands he’s coming back from an ACL, and that’s serious, and he knows it’s serious, but he wants to prove himself.
“So for us, it’s pulling the reins on him and making sure that he understands it’s a long season ahead, it’s a huge career ahead of him that we want him to have in the blue and white.
“So he’ll probably be frustrated with us from time to time, but he’s going have to wear a little bit of that because he’s going be a really important player for us, and we’re really excited with what he can bring, but, yeah he’s a man possessed, and we need to rein him in sometimes.”
Veteran ruck Rhys Stanley and uncapped trio George Steven, Jay Polkinghorne, and Oli Wiltshire are the emergencies and will line up in the VFL practice match.
The clash with the Bombers will bounce at 7:20pm, 10 minutes later than the originally scheduled start time.
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FB [17] Lawson Humphries,[44] Tom Stewart,[14] Connor O’Sullivan
HB [39] Zach Guthrie,[38] Jack Henry,[46] Mark Blicavs
C [13] Jhye Clark,[9] Max Holmes,[28] Oliver Dempsey
HF [35] Patrick Dangerfield,[45] Brad Close,[18] Tyson Stengle
FF [32] Gryan Miers,[33] Shannon Neale,[5] Jeremy Cameron
FOL [16] Sam De Koning,[30] Tom Atkins,[10] Mitch Knevitt
IC [40] Ted Clohesy,[22] Mitch Duncan,[24] Jed Bews,[42] Mark O’Connor,[34] Oisin Mullin,[12] Jack Bowes,[8] Jake Kolodjashnij,[36] Oliver Henry
EMG [1] Rhys Stanley,[15] George Stevens,[2] Jay Polkinghorne,[21] Oliver Wiltshire
