Tom Stewart is confident that the knee troubles that impacted the first half of his season are behind him after making a successful return in last week’s win over the Western Bulldogs.
The Geelong vice-captain first hurt his posterior cruciate ligament in the Round 2 loss to St Kilda and was a late withdrawal from the following week’s defeat by the Brisbane Lions.
Stewart returned for the win over Melbourne, but admits he was “definitely underdone”.
A bout of gastro saw him again a late out for the Gather Round win over Adelaide, before aggravating his knee issue on Easter Monday.
“I was probably trying to push the proverbial uphill there for a little bit,” Stewart said while visiting local club Grovedale as part of Dulux’s Colour Your Club day.
“I’m not the young man that I once was.
“Scotty (coach Chris Scott), over the years, has called me the ‘Liquid Terminator’ because I have been able to come back from injuries relatively quickly.
“But, this time, I just needed a good break to recalibrate, give it a chance to heal and then build my strength back up again.
“It’s in a really good place now, and I’m really confident that I can continue to put my best foot forward and play some good footy.”
Stewart says a 10-day break between the win over the Bulldogs ahead of this Sunday’s meeting with West Coast in Perth is ideal.
“The timing of that worked out really, really well,” he said.
“I’m really buoyed by the way I played in the Doggies game, and how I got through that, and now that I can attack this next little period of the year.”
Geelong will start as warm favourites in Sunday night’s clash with the Eagles, which doubles as another milestone match for a Cats star.
Defender Jack Henry, who’s had his own injury concerns in the first half of the season, will make his 150th appearance in the Hoops.
Stewart and Henry joined the Cats in the same draft period and have formed a strong bond in the back half of the ground.
“We do a little ground ball game before every game that we play together,” Stewart said.
“I think we’ve played in 140-odd games together because we’ve both had fair chunks of missing time, but it’s always sort of overlapped that we’ve missed together.
“I’ve played with some absolute champions of our footy club… everyone knows the names.
“But he, over the journey, has been my absolute favourite teammate.
“Not only because we sort of share a similar position on the ground and we’ve played a lot of footy together, but just the way he plays the game.”
Stewart says Henry is “richly valued” inside the four walls at GMHBA Stadium.
“He, like Tom Atkins, doesn’t get recognised externally by awards or any of that,” Stewart said.
“On game day, we’re fully aware of the role that he plays for us and the capabilities that he has, but (also) the person that he is
“He’s so level-headed, and he’s a great sounding board for me. I bounce things off (him) frequently.
“We live a couple of hundred metres away from each other, so we really enjoy each other’s company.
“I’m so proud of him that he’s got to 150, and he’s got such a long career ahead of him.
“This will just be one of many milestones he’ll tick off.”
X: @krockfootball
