GEELONG will make at least one change to its team for Sunday’s clash with Essendon at the MCG.
The Cats have selected Jordan Clark, Brandan Parfitt, Darcy For, James Parsons and Zach Guthrie on an extended interchange bench, with Charlie Constable omitted.
Clark will definitely play, with coach Chris Scott again guaranteeing the young defender his spot for Sunday as he did after the win over West Coast.
“I’m not in the business of saying those sort of things and giving a young guy hope and going back on it,” Scott said.
“He was managed as a young player – that’s the only reason he didn’t play (against the Eagles), and he’s in really good shape to be available this week.”
CATS: SCOOT SET FOR EXTENDED VFL STINT
Geelong has lost its two previous meetings with Essendon in a similar style, with the Bombers getting a jump and the Cats unable to reel them in.
However, Scott isn’t reading too much into those results.
“Especially when you go back and have a look at the personnel of the team,” he said.
“Slowly, as an industry, I think we’re coming to terms with the fact that teams can change really quickly, and if one-third of your team is different, then the relevance of games two years ago becomes significantly less.
“And they’ve changed their game as well.
Scott acknowledged that one aspect of how Essendon approaches the game is its ball use.
“They’re quite aggressive with their attack,” Scott said.
“And against a really good defensive team in Collingwood last week, 33 points down, they showed that they can still pose a real threat in that situation.
“If they get off to a great start and get their game going – if you want to refer back to those two games, they did get off to a good start and get the game on their terms a little bit with their attack – they can be hard to stop.”
K rock is live from 2 pm on FM 95.5 across Geelong and the Surf Coast, FM 88.0 at the MCG, and via AFL.com.au or the AFL app.
Twitter: @tom_king79
AFL ROUND 7
GEELONG (1st) vs. ESSENDON (10th)
MCG
Sunday, May 5, 3:20pm
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