Tom Stewart is still working his way through the concussion protocol, but Jeremy Cameron is a certainty to play in Geelong’s blockbuster clash with Fremantle on Thursday night, according to coach Chris Scott.
Stewart entered the protocol following an incident late in the loss to Adelaide on June 4, while Scott has confirmed Cameron has been battling a minor hip issue.
If Stewart entered the protocol the night of the incident, the mandatory 12 days would conclude today (Tuesday).
“I haven’t got any update there, but it’s not unusual,” Scott said. “As we’ve said before, especially when it comes to the concussion protocols, we don’t ask as a coaching group for a running commentary.
“We’re informed around availability, when and if it happens.
“We haven’t got that yet, but there’s still a bit of time. We obviously train today before we get on a plane tomorrow.
“That’ll work itself out.”
Despite managing to kick 3.5 against Gold Coast, Cameron looked in discomfort at times during last Friday’s win.
“He’ll play. He’s fine,” Scott said. “He’s had a little bit of hip irritation, so he gets some treatment on that that’s there for everyone to see.
“It’s not something that we hide. We wouldn’t try to hide it if it was serious. It’s something that he’s managing a bit, but his movement’s still pretty good.
“There’s been some commentary around his arm as well, and I think the summary there from talking to him, mainly more than our medical staff, is that that comes and goes a little bit, but he’s very confident that that’s not an issue for him.
“He’s been a little bit limited, but hopefully you get a bit of a feel for the way we think about things.
“And we tend to be very, very conservative with these things. If we thought that him playing through this was going to potentially lead to bad outcomes in the medium term, we wouldn’t be playing him.
“So everyone should have confidence that if we keep playing him, that any issues that he’s working through are minor.”
After being a late withdrawal from the win over the Suns due to a minor hamstring issue, Jack Bowes is expected to be OK to return.
Tyson Stengle has pulled up well after a four-goal performance in the VFL, his first appearance since last year’s AFL grand final.
However, when he plays at AFL level again remains up in the air.
“When a player’s missed a big chunk of footy, our approach almost universally is to not worry too much about performance,” Scott said.
“Now, the fact that he played well; he kicked four goals, (and) handled the ball well, it was more a reflection for us of what we were seeing at training, so that wasn’t unexpected.
“But his performance wasn’t going to change our view over his return to play at all.
“It was much more important that he got out there, felt good, moved around well and used it as a step towards getting the conditioning that he needs to be available.
“I’m not going to say it’s a long way off, but it’s too far off for me to forecast when it would be.
“But, the good news is he’s available to play the next game, and it’s a nice, positive, small step for him and us.”
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