GEORGE Burbury will become Geelong's 13th debutant since the club won the 2011 premiership when he plays his first game against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The 20-year-old was elevated from the Cats' rookie list to their senior list last week in place of Daniel Menzel.

Burbury then continued his good VFL form with an impressive performance against Collingwood at Victoria Park.

"We love the way George plays," Geelong coach Chris Scott said at Simonds Stadium on Tuesday.

"We're really excited that George has been able to work his way up through our rookie list system.

"Twelve months ago, he was so far away from AFL footy it wasn't funny.

"But through hard work and determination, as well as a bit of talent, he's worked his way into our AFL team that's lost one game for the season.

"It's a credit to him."

Geelong is likely to make a couple of other changes for its clash with the Power.

Although James Kelly will be sidelined again by suspension, fellow midfielder Steve Johnson is expected to return after being a late withdrawal from the team that lost to Collingwood on Saturday night.

Johnson missed the game against the Magpies after failing to shake off the knock to the calf that he copped in round seven against Essendon, but he was moving freely at training on Tuesday.

"We're hopeful, but he's got a few training sessions to get through before we can guarantee that," Scott said.

"It is a relatively minor calf issue, but we always err on the side of conservatism, so I can't guarantee it."

Billie Smedts, who had to be subbed out of the loss to the Magpies during the second quarter after suffering an ankle injury, won't play.

The upside is that he should miss only one game.

The emerging forward/midfielder was able to run laps at training on Tuesday, with Scott saying the injury was "not as serious as we first thought.”

"We thought initially that it had the potential to be a two, three or four-week injury,” he said.

"We're now confident it's at the lower end of that scale."

Veteran Paul Chapman will miss his fifth consecutive game as his battle with a hamstring tendon issue drags on.

"I've speculated too much about something that I'm not sure enough about," Scott said.

"The important thing for our supporters to understand is that we're taking a long-term view with Paul.

"He's going to be an incredibly important player in the last half of our season, and we're going to make sure that he's absolutely healthy, then match-fit, before he plays."

Ruckman Hamish McIntosh was hoping to play his first game in the VFL this weekend, but is struggling to convince Geelong's medical staff that he's right to go.

"He's losing the battle," Scott said.

Fellow big man Nathan Vardy has been playing in the VFL, but he remains some time off returning to the AFL.

"Not this week," Scott said of Vardy.

"(He’s) playing well enough to be picked, but we're going to be extremely conservative with 'Vards' and make sure that when he comes into the AFL system he's ready to play his best."
Adam McNicol covers Geelong news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol