Lachie Henderson looms as Tom Hawkins’ replacement for preliminary final
Geelong is leaning towards a like-for-like replacement for suspended key forward Tom Hawkins, with Lachie Henderson looming as the man to partner Esava Ratugolea against Richmond.
Geelong
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Geelong is expected to go tall when selecting a forward line replacement for Tom Hawkins in its do-or-die preliminary final against Richmond tomorrow night.
The Cats are loathe to tinker with a structure — playing two key forwards — that took them to top position at the end of the home-and-away season.
Such a scenario would most likely see the Cats throw Harry Taylor or Lachie Henderson forward to partner exciting prospect Esava Ratugolea.
This would allow Geelong to try and create plenty of chaos opportunities in its forward line and the type of ground balls that fed its smaller brigade against West Coast last Friday night.
Henderson, 29, would be an intriguing selection, having played just fives games in defence this season after seven in the same area last year.
The last time he played forward for Geelong was an unsuccessful stint during the 2017 finals series against Richmond and Adelaide.
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But he played well in attack during three of his six seasons at Carlton, and spent much of his junior life as a forward.
Geelong will be desperate to ensure Richmond defenders Dylan Grimes, David Astbury and Nick Vlastuin are kept accountable, just as they kept West Coast pair Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass in check last Friday.
As such Henderson’s role would be to compete as much as to win the ball.
He would need to be predictable, along with Ratugolea, for his crumbing teammates.
Henderson played the last four games of the home-and-away season before being overlooked for Geelong’s two finals.
The option for the Cats is to go with Gary Rohan or James Parsons, providing a slightly smaller alternative with more emphasis on run in the knowledge that the Tigers aren’t overly tall up back with Alex Rance injured.
The Rohan of the first 10 rounds this season, in which he averaged two goals and exerted influential pressure, would be an automatic selection but his recent form has been well down on those early numbers
Originally published as Lachie Henderson looms as Tom Hawkins’ replacement for preliminary final