Irishman Mark O’Connor is set to return to football this weekend.
The 22-year-old has missed the past two matches sidelined with a toe injury.
“He has just got a toe issue that has been a little slower than we thought, but it is not a serious injury and if he doesn’t play this week, I’ll state my reputation on the fact that he plays next week,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said.
“Every week you miss makes it a little bit harder to break in, but I will say that Mark has been a fixture of our team this year and plays a really important role for us, so it might be a slightly harder decision, but I think the odds are with Mark."
Forward Gary Rohan is also taking positive steps in his recovery from a knee injury.
The former Swan is back moving, and Scott is confident that he could be available prior to finals.
“Our VFL team plays in the AFL pre-finals bye week, so that is a possibility for him.”
“Again, he is not dissimilar to Mark O’Connor in that he has been a fixture of our team and if he is something like full health and moving well, then it would be surprising if he couldn’t force his way back into our team straight away.”
The latest on Jordan Clark is a mixture of good and bad news.
“The good news is that it looks as if he can get back into the team by the end of the season."
“The bad news is it is probably looking like four weeks from the date of the injury before we could consider him.”
“It is also good news that it is an elbow and that he is already running, he won’t lose much conditions maybe just a little bit of footy touch and that sort of thing.”
Finally, the club will not be taking any risk with Nakia Cockatoo.
“We’ve been really conservative with his management. He didn’t play last week with a bit of a tight hamstring. He’s going ok and hasn’t had a setback, we just need him to be perfect before he plays.”
“There’s a chance he might play this week and a chance he might play next week but there’s a strong chance we say, with a couple of games at the end of the year with no chance at playing AFL – is just not worth it.”
For the latest injury news visit the Geelong Cats Health Hub.
