LIVEWIRE forward Gary Rohan is expected to spend some time up the field when he makes his first AFL appearance of 2022 in Geelong’s clash with Port Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium.
A pre-season back issue kept Rohan out of action until earlier this month, with the Cats comfortable that two VFL hitouts are enough for the 30-year-old.
“We will see how he goes over the next few days, but he doesn’t need to do anything special over the next few days to be available,” coach Chris Scott said.
“The plan, given there was a VFL bye last week, was to have him ready to play last week, knowing there was a bit of a buffer there.
“He did a training load, which was in excess of his game load the previous couple of weeks.
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to play.”
Scott confirmed Rohan would have the ability to spend time in the midfield, where he can put his speed and pressure to good use.
“It’s not a bad example of the autonomy we try to give our players,” he said.
“We don’t think we live in a world now where the coaches need to pull the puppet strings from the coaches’ box.
“We get so much time to work with players who are really coachable that we’d like to think they understand the sort of things that we’re going after.
“Then, they have enough autonomy to make those decisions onfield.
“As much as anything, we’re kind of quality control up in the box; if we see something we don’t like, or if that’s disrupting the cohesion of the rest of the team, then we’ve got the ability to change it.”
After missing his second match of the season with a concussion, defender Jed Bews will play against Port Adelaide.
Rhys Stanley, who suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury in the loss to St Kilda, remains a chance to take on the Power.
“I think it’s likely he’ll have a light week and then be available to play; that’s the advice that I’ve been given,” Scott said.
“His ankle injury wasn’t serious. He missed a week, (then) he was available to play (and) just jagged it in the first five minutes.
“But, (he) was able to come back and play the game out.
“We haven’t had the complete prognosis given to us yet, but – put it this way – by this stage of the week, if it was clear that he wouldn’t be playing, we would know, and we haven’t got that information.”
There is more clarity around Jack Henry’s return from a foot issue.
The Carji Greeves Medal runner-up hasn’t played since having his foot stood on in the loss to Hawthorn on Easter Monday.
It’s the same foot Henry underwent pre-season surgery on.
“The (medical) advice to us is that they’re going to treat it symptomatically, and he’ll keep stepping up his program,” Scott said.
“And as long as he’s pain-free, he can progress really quickly, which is happening.
“But, he’s not training with the group; I think we’re starting to get to that.
“Could he play the week before the bye? Should we hold him back for another two weeks? Use the bye, play the following week?
“That’s roughly the timeframe.”
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