GEELONG assistant coach Shaun Grigg has played down suggestions that starting Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield on the bench at the beginning of the qualifying final win over Collingwood was to allow the early heat to go out of the game.
There was some level of surprise that the Cats’ most experienced midfielders weren’t at the opening centre bounce against the Magpies last Friday night.
“It’s probably naive to think the heat’s going to come out that quickly when you saw Collingwood’s pressure all night,” he said.
“The best teams are able to sustain that.
“For us, it’s just about spreading the load.
“And for the guys, when they’re on the ground in those positions, to give everything they’ve got.
“We’ve shown that throughout the year. Certain guys have started on the bench in certain games.
“They’ve all taken their turn, and the opportunity for other guys to stand up’s been significant for us.”
Cracking day for @GeelongCats training pic.twitter.com/xQCCZsogQE
— K rock Football (@KrockFootball) September 7, 2022
Geelong trained in glorious sunshine on Wednesday morning in a light session at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats will ramp up their preparation for a preliminary final meeting with Melbourne or the Brisbane Lions on Friday.
“We’ve been through it a week ago with the longer break,” Grigg said.
“We won’t do everything exactly the same as what we did last week.
“But, we’ll have a decent hitout Friday and then look towards next week.”
Defender Jake Kolodjashni was cleared of serious damage to the knee that he injured in the opening quarter against Collingwood.
However, Grigg said there is still uncertainty about whether he will recover in time to take on the Demons or Lions.
“We don’t have all that information just yet,” he said.
“The beauty of winning … and having the week off is to give guys like that the extra chance to get up.
“He’ll discuss that with the medical team, we’ll get the updates as we go, and next week we’ll have a better idea.”
Twitter: @krockfootball
