Neale to be put to the test

Emerging Geelong forward Shannon Neale has been cleared of any serious damage to the ankle he injured in Saturday night’s loss the Brisbane Lions.

Neale, who was spotted in a moonboot at Brisbane Airport on Sunday morning, was clearly hampered for the remainder of the clash after coming from the ground in the first quarter.

“Shannon irritated his right ankle in the first quarter of the game against Brisbane and managed to play out the game,” football boss Andrew Mackie said.

“Scans have ruled out any serious injury and he will be a test to play Melbourne on Friday night.”

Vice-captain Tom Stewart will also be a test to take on the Demons after being a late withdrawal from the nine-point defeat by the Lions.

Stewart suffered a knee injury in the previous week’s loss to St Kilda, and flew to Brisbane before the call was made to withdraw him from the 23.

“… we are optimistic on his availability ahead of Friday night,” Mackie said.

“With two sessions remaining for the week, we will continue to monitor him ahead of Friday.”

Young big Mitch Edwards now has a timeline for a return from a pelvis injury having been listed as TBC in recent weeks.

“Mitch has progressed his reintroduction into team training over the past fortnight,” Mackie said.

“He will continue to build his conditioning with the aim for him return to play in three to four weeks.”

Former Carlton and Gold Coast forward Jack Martin is now TBC as he attempts to overcome a calf problem that forced him out of the Round 1 VFL win over Sandringham in the warm-up.

X: @krockfootball

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