JOEL Selwood is firming to be part of the Geelong team that will fly to Sydney for the season-opening clash with the GWS Giants.
The Cats’ skipper, who underwent off-season hamstring surgery, successfully negotiated an intra-club practice match at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
It was the 31-year-old’s last chance to prove he was right to take on the Giants, having missed both of Geelong’s Marsh Series matches.
“Joel had a really positive session on Saturday, as he did a couple of days prior to that,” football boss Simon Lloyd said.
“He’s in a great frame of mind and in the frame of mind he’ll be ready to play Round 1.”
CATS: TEAMS SEGREGATED AT GMHBA STADIUM
Mitch Duncan is also a chance to join him after getting through a VFL practice match against Werribee on Friday night.
The classy midfielder had his first competitive hit-out of this pre-season after undergoing hip surgery prior to Christmas, which followed on from elbow surgery at the end of the 2019 season.
However, Lloyd says Duncan still has some boxes to tick at training this week to prove he is right to take on the Giants.
After a number of injury concerns through January and early February, Geelong will be close to full-strength for the meeting with last year’s runner-up.
Jake Kolodjashnij (hip), Nakia Cockatoo (hamstring), Nathan Krueger (knee) and Stefan Okunbor (Achilles) are the only players with a definitive line through them for Round 1.
Twitter: @tom_king79
