GEELONG coach Chris Scott says the confidence the club’s medical staff have that Jeremy Cameron will be ready for the first week of the finals is good enough for him.
The star forward will miss Saturday’s final-round meeting with West Coast after suffering what the Cats’ medical staff reported as a “minor” hamstring strain in the win over Gold Coast last week.
“I’m just echoing what they said,” Scott said. “They were really confident in the day or two post-game that he would be available for the first final.
“That case has only strengthened in the last day or two.
“It’s the same for (Rhys) Stanley. Those two are right on track.
“Speaking to Jeremy – and Rhys as well, they’ve both been running.
“They’re on the good track, we think.”
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After being managed out of the win over the Suns, Geelong is “likely” to welcome back veteran duo Mitch Duncan and Isaac Smith.
While ruck Jonathon Ceglar, who will exit the AFL’s concussion protocol on Friday, looms as the replacement for Stanley.
However, Scott said how they replace Cameron is still being discussed.
“They’re a kind of things that will set the dominoes going,” he said.
“Which individuals we think would benefit from some game time? And how that fits into the structure.
“And the two things are separate, so once we’ve decided which one’s a priority, then the other dominoes will fall from there.”
Meanwhile, Geelong has set a new record for club membership, passing 70,000 for the second-straight year.
The Cats have posted a tally of 70.758, up from 70,293 last year and representing a 10th consecutive season of growth.
“Pre-pandemic, football clubs – certainly ours – tended to think in terms of the value that we could provide our members,” Scott said.
“It wasn’t until the pandemic, where we couldn’t provide that value, that you realise just how irrational the support from our members and supporters was.
“It defies any value proposition – it’s so much more than that.
“And, we’ll be forever thankful because we were on our knees. We weren’t sure whether we were going to survive or the members would come back at all, much less hang on through two years of virtually no footy.”
Twitter: @krockfootball
