Boom recruit Phil Read will make his club debut on Saturday when the Bendigo Bank Cats take on the Casey Scorpions at Casey Fields.

The former West Coast and Melbourne hard man has served his four-match suspension and coach Leigh Tudor says the chief destroyer from last year’s grand final is set to make an impact in his first game of the season.

“Phil’s been training the house down – he’s really fit and really keen to play this week,” Tudor said.

“What he brings to the team is experience, hardness and he is very good at using his voice, so he’s going to be that experienced player who will help out the younger AFL and the VFL players.

“We’re really looking forward to him playing.”

Geelong has emerged as an irresistible force so far this season and will look to build on its early season momentum this week with its strongest side of the year.

Stephen Owen is a likely starter after being a late withdrawal last week with a niggling foot injury.

Depending on the outcome of several fitness tests from today’s training, only a handful of VFL players will line up this week.

“At this stage we’ve got to wait on AFL training – but we’ll definitely have James Byrne, Matt Firman and Phil Read,” Tudor said.

“Simon Clarke, Scott Thompson and Jay Cheep could be playing as well.

The Cats are still yet to translate their burst quarters of scintillating football into a consistent, four-quarter effort, something that Tudor hopes will be a driving force this week.

“To be honest, we’re not going to be too worried about their match ups,” he said.

“Troy Makepeace has been a very good player, so we’re going to have to watch him, but we’re going to worry about our style this week and trying to put together a four quarter game.

“We haven’t really put together a four quarter game so far this year, so that will be our focus.”

Casey has experienced an inconsistent start to the season, with a win, a draw and two losses, but Tudor is weary of the challenges they throw up on their home ground.

“We’re going to have to play good footy to beat them,” he said.

“On their home ground, it’s pretty big ground; they’ll run pretty hard, so we’re going to need to be on our guard.

“Justin Sweeny has been a very good player for Casey over the last couple of years – that will be a really good match up for Sam Hunt.”

The match will be broadcast live on ABC TV from 1pm, while the match will also be broadcast on Double X 1611AM radio from 1pm.

The action gets underway at 1.10pm on Saturday. Geelong members receive discounted entry.