Geelong coach Chris Scott couldn’t have been more definitive when questioned about the health of Tom Stewart ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
The vice-captain was forced from the ground during the third quarter of last Sunday’s win over St Kilda after suffering a knock to the knee.
Post-game, Scott was confident Stewart would be right to take on the Roos, which remained the case when he fronted the media at GMHBA Stadium this morning, rejecting suggestions the Cats should take a cautious approach with the five-time All-Australian.
“We’re in the moment. We’re not managing our effort or our availability at this point of the season; we’re full systems go,” Scott said.
“So it’s not to say that we don’t think about these things – we do.
“And I’d like to think that we’re very prudent and sometimes overly cautious when it comes to the health of particularly our really important players.
“But it’s just not an issue.
“And I think I was clear post-game because that was the feedback that we got pretty quickly when we subbed him off, that that was a very precautionary move to make sure that he was right for this week, and that’s exactly the way it’s played out.”
Geelong will have 40 members of its playing list in action across the weekend, with the Cats to field a season-high 17 AFL-listed players in Sunday’s VFL match-up with North Melbourne at Arden Street.
One of those missing is veteran Cam Guthrie, who will be held back for another fortnight, as the VFL team has the bye next week.
“He’s just not quite ready,” Scott said.
“So what it means is with the bye, that it’s a little bit longer than we would like, but confident that he’ll get a fair bit out of the training between now and then.
“And he will play more game time when he comes back than he would have if we pushed him into this game.
“So, I think the end result is going to be pretty marginal.”
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