Geelong VFL coach Leigh Tudor has warned his players about the perils of underestimating winless Box Hill Hawks in their marquee clash at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday.
With the Cats producing some of their best football for the season in the past two rounds, Tudor urged his side not to become complacent this week against the bottom-placed Hawks.
The Cats, who sit in sixth position on the VFL ladder, have struggled against the Hawks in recent seasons, including an upset 15-point loss at Skilled Stadium last year.
“We’ve had a lot of trouble with Box Hill there in the past, so the fact that they haven’t won a game doesn’t mean anything,” Tudor said.
“It will be a really good game and we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“I know they’ve got up to five or six AFL blokes coming back from injury, but they’ll have a really good balance of AFL and VFL players in their side.
“So just from the last contest we had with Box Hill, we would expect it to be a pretty fierce contest.”
Tudor said competition for a place in the senior side was set to further intensify, with all the side’s usual suspects continuing to thrust their names into senior contention.
Brent Prismall with 44 possessions was simply superb, while eight other players had 20 or more disposals.
“Dave Johnson, by the end of the game last week, was one of our better players,” Tudor said.
“He really worked into the game and every week he really shows his courage and his experience and he’s a very good VFL player.
“The same with Tom Lonergan and Kane Tenace, they continue to do all the right things, play well and keep putting their hands up for senior selection by playing well in the VFL.
“If Westy (Trent West) can play like he did last week we’ll be very happy. He came back with a great attitude and really played well, which was good.”
Tudor said the Hawks would boast a potent balance of AFL- and VFL-listed players, including a number of recuperating first-pick Hawthorn players making their return from injury.
Hawthorn super boot Stuart Dew, who tore his hamstring a month ago, is expected to play, with potentially half a dozen senior teammates set to join him.
With no AFL matches this weekend, VFL clubs wanting to field AFL-listed players who were not named in last week’s squads must seek special permission from the AFL.
Tudor confirmed Geelong would not seek special permission to field any additional players, with the Cats likely to field a side very similar to the one that ran over Collingwood last week.
“You can get special consideration and guys can come back if they want to, but I don’t think we will be doing that,” he said.
“We can, but we’re not going to, we know they’re thinking about it with Stuart Dew, but whether they do or not, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
As part of the AFL’s community football weekend to commemorate 150 years of football, Box Hill is organising a family day.
Fans are strongly encouraged to attend the match, with jumping castles and face painting for the kids, as well as a visit from Half Cat.
The match gets underway at 2pm.
