All the latest Geelong Cats news before big clash with St Kilda
Geelong fans have long been split on where Mark Blicavs plays his best footy but the Cats coaches have locked it down and Chris Scott says it is obvious where he should play. TAKE OUR POLL
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Geelong ruck Rhys Stanley is expected to return to face a dual St Kilda threat and he will continue to tag-team with Mark Blicavs after it has become “obvious” the utility plays his best in the midfield.
Blicavs was thrust into the No.1 ruck duties after Stanley and back-up big Esava Ratugolea both went down with ankle injuries before last weekend clash with the GWS Giants and he polled a perfect 10 coaches votes.
He will need Stanley’s big body for support this weekend against dominant Saints pair Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall, while Blicavs will also need to help out Sam De Koning’s job in stopping giant forward Max King.
Often thrown around between defence, the wing and ruck, Cats coach Chris Scott said the “evidence is in” that Blicavs plays his best on the ball.
“It is always a really interesting topic of discussion and debate amongst our coaches and players, most importantly Mark,” Scott said.
“I think it’s safe to say the evidence is in, in terms of his best position.
“He has always been a hybrid player for us but it has been obvious to us for a number of years that when he is up through the middle of the ground, he has his biggest impact for us.”
Scott said Stanley was “tracking well” to recover from his ankle injury for Saturday’s top-eight clash, and the ruck was running smoothly to start Geelong’s main training on Wednesday morning.
With Ryder, Marshall and King looming, Scott said the ruck minutes would be adjusted to cope with the tall opponents.
“Their two ruckmen, I think (St Kilda) consider to be a real strength for them and in their own right Marshall and Ryder are really good players,” Scott said.
“But I think as a collective, St Kilda feel that that is a strength of their team. We need to consider that without completely going away from the way we play but that takes time to get to the right place.”
Skipper Joel Selwood is set to return from a corked quad to face the Saints, while Scott said Shaun Higgins will be “held back for a little bit”.
CATS PLAN FOR SKIPPER’S RETURN
Geelong expects skipper Joel Selwood to return for Saturday’s crunch clash against St Kilda.
But big man Esava Ratugolea won’t be back on field until after the mid-season bye after successful ankle surgery on Monday.
A corked quad picked up in round 7’s loss to Fremantle meant Selwood missed last weekend’s win over GWS Giants, despite the captain’s best efforts to get right and play.
Selwood fronted the media at a press conference and actively posed for photos last Monday but felt pain when trying to reach top speed at training during the week and was put on ice.
The Cats are managing the veteran’s body through his 16th season and were confident they made the right call to rest him given they still managed to top the Giants by 53 points in round 8.
“It was a really good call not to play (Selwood) and we expect him to be available this week,” Geelong football boss Simon Lloyd said.
Fellow veteran Shaun Higgins remains in doubt for a return, as he deals with multiple sore spots after he was listed as out with “general soreness” last weekend.
Ruck Rhys Stanley will be tested later in the week, with Geelong set to face big St Kilda pair Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall on Saturday.
Ratugolea will be sidelined until the mid-season bye due to his surgery, which would pit his return beyond five weeks away.
The explosive tall had spent weeks regaining fitness in his left ankle after he rolled it against Collingwood in round 3, only to have two teammates fall on it in a contest late in Geelong’s main training session last Wednesday.
“He got up and jogged a little bit around the boundary line and then obviously was set to see a specialist and unfortunately for Esava, he has had to go in for an operation,” Lloyd said.
“He did a huge amount of work to get himself ready to play and it was just one of those things where it was landed on awkwardly in a contest.”
Ratugolea previously had surgery on a severely broken right ankle in 2018.
ZACH GUTHRIE NO LONGER ‘SETTLING' FOR THE FRINGE
A fringe player for the past six seasons at Geelong, Zach Guthrie is no longer “settling” to be in and out of the side and is desperate to lock away a spot in the club’s best 22.
Since his debut in 2017, Guthrie has played 37 games and never more than 13 in any one season.
This year he was given a start in round 1, but soon found himself out of the side.
His last appearance before Saturday’s win over the GWS Giants was as the medical sub in round 4 but he slotted in seamlessly against the Giants roaming across half-back.
Guthrie gathered 23 disposals, took 12 marks – including an game-high four contested grabs – and booted a late running goal in one of the most assured performances of his career.
He said he was willing himself to make an impact every game he plays to try and earn a regular spot in the Geelong backline.
“It can be tough, everyone would like to be playing every week but across the competition there is always going to be the guys who are in a similar position (to me) on the fringe,” he said.
“I have sort of been in that position so I kind of know how to handle it a bit but I am not settling to be a fringe player. I want to come in and impact the game when I come in and just make the most of the opportunities that I do get.”
After a solid pre-season and earning a spot in defence to start the season, Guthrie had to regroup and get his confidence back when he was left out of the side.
He remained a constant presence around the AFL defensive group and reminded himself to back in his aerial strengths and ability to read the ball.
With Mark Blicavs called out of defence to play in the ruck against the Giants, Guthrie’s ability to play on talls and smalls made him an important figure in a successful defensive group in Canberra.
“That has probably helped me over the years, going back to the VFL we probably haven’t had as many key position players so I find myself playing on talls and I think that has helped my development,” he said.
“I feel like I can roll on to those (bigger) guys and I can play on small forwards as well, so I am just really trying to know where my opponent is, know what my strengths are against them and just really trying to make the most of that.”
SURGERY TO EXTEND ESAVA’S SIDELINE STINT
Geelong big man Esava Ratugolea’s AFL return has been pushed back several weeks after he underwent surgery on his troublesome ankle.
The Cats are hoping to be boosted this week in a top-eight clash with St Kilda by the returns of Joel Selwood (corked quad) and Rhys Stanley (ankle), who will both be tested later in the week.
Ratugolea first picked up an ankle injury in round 3 against Collingwood and Geelong put him on a meticulous program to build himself back to full strength before a return to the side.
He was on standby to come in for Stanley ahead of Saturday’s game with the GWS Giants but Ratugolea was pulled out of the Geelong squad on Friday after injuring the ankle at training.
Geelong head of medical and conditioning services Harry Taylor said the springy tall had surgery on Monday.
It marks the second time he has had an ankle procedure, after suffering a nasty break in mid-2018.
Ratugolea is the second Cat to have ankle surgery in as many weeks after youngster Max Holmes had his own operation last Monday.
“After specialist consultation, it has been decided that Esava will undergo an operation on his ankle to give him the best chance to play in the near future,” Taylor said.
“Following surgery (on Monday), Esava will follow a reconditioning plan that we hope had him back training and playing relatively soon.”
Taylor confirmed Selwood had suffered a “significant” cork but is a chance to face the Saints, while veteran Shaun Higgins will be tested after he was left out of the team with “general soreness”.
The Cats had hoped hard runner Sam Menegola would play some VFL minutes last weekend but his pesky knee kept him sidelined.
Taylor said Menegola had made “significant gains” and would train with the main group this week.
Jack Henry (foot) remains some time away, while Jed Bews will miss the St Kilda clash through concussion protocols.
Draftee Cooper Whyte has been sidelined by a sore groin in recent weeks and will be put on a fitness plan to ease that pain, while ruck recruit Jon Ceglar (foot) has begun to increase his running.
GEELONG’S RUCK SOLUTION HAS BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME
The quiet secret of Geelong’s revolving door ruck division was laid bare with a throwaway comment in the final seconds of Chris Scott’s press conference on Saturday night.
As the Cats coach was winding things up and preparing to stand up and leave, he quietly spoke about how Mark Blicavs was in his eyes the best man on the ground in a 53-point win over the GWS Giants.
With Rhys Stanley and Esava Ratugolea both nursing sore ankles, Blicavs took over the No.1 ruck role and outran and outworked Giants big man Braydon Preuss in the comfortable victory in Canberra.
“(Blicavs) knew he wasn’t going to get his hand to it against Preuss who is a giant, but I thought his follow up and ground level work, he was the best player on the ground for mine,” Scott said in the dying seconds of that press conference.
Geelong has copped endless questions in the past five years about whether its ruck division can stand up under the finals heat and Max Gawn turning into a combination of Gary Ablett Sr, Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer and Jesus Christ for a good 15 minutes in last year’s preliminary final didn’t dim that noise one bit.
Geelong’s No.1 ruck all those years has been hiding in plain sight, in the No.46 jumper.
Blicavs’ ability to break even – or close enough – in the air and then outpace his ruck rival at ground level was never more evident than against the statue-esque Preuss, as Blicavs broke into space and became a free link man to help the Cats move the ball from end to end.
That point of difference has outshone the other ruck options in recent years.
Stanley was actually in great touch before his ankle injury but his strength as a marker and leaper at centre bounces can be outweighed by Blicavs, while Ratugolea remains a work in progress and generally needs to spend most of his time playing forward.
The problem with Blicavs starting in the ruck is the hole it leaves behind him.
While Geelong looked better covering the ground with an extra runner in the midfield, the defence suddenly looked short.
Sam De Koning has quickly become indispensable back there and without another tall option on field, was required to pinch hit in the ruck.
That could be a recipe for disaster this weekend if St Kilda giant Max King is left to stand in the goalsquare against an undersized opponent.
Even when Jack Henry returns, the Cats defence would probably be one big man short without Blicavs and Scott recognised his defence wasn’t quite tall enough when he said “at times they were a little bit undersized back there”.
The question the Cats coaches will debate this year, like they have in the years past, is whether the benefits of Blicavs around the ball outweigh his stability behind it.
WHIRLWIND WEEK LEADS TO MITCH KNEVITT’S DEBUT
It all looked like a normal week for Mitch Knevitt, until it wasn’t.
The blonde-haired young Cats midfielder had another VFL game on his agenda, a clash with North Melbourne at Arden St.
Then on Thursday he was named an emergency for Geelong’s clash with the GWS Giants two days later.
By Friday, he was told to bring his boots to Canberra – he was a chance to see AFL game time for the very first time
The Grovedale junior was told he would be Geelong’s medical sub, marking his AFL debut.
After warming up with the idea he wouldn’t be used in the back of his mind, Knevitt was called upon at quarter-time as defender Jed Bews went down with concussion.
Luckily, he had just enough time in the previous 24 hours to warn his family and get them to Canberra to watch the clash with the GWS Giants.
“They (the coaches) said I was a bit of a chance and then the next morning I was told I would be the sub which was awesome,” he said.
“I was about an 80 per cent chance and they didn’t confirm until Friday morning. It was a bit weird because I couldn’t really tell anyone because it wasn’t announced until about an hour before the game but it was really good fun.
“I was trying to prep for the game but I didn’t know if I was going to get on or what but got on pretty much after quarter-time which was great and then I played out three quarters.”
Knevitt, 19, had his parents Scott and Suzie, plus his girlfriend Jemima, the stands at Manuka Oval as he lived his dream.
His mates were all busy with playing duties at Grovedale, but the TV at Burdoo Reserve was immediately turned over to Fox Footy once the club got back from a senior GFL game at St Mary’s.
“They were stoked for me,” Knevitt said of his mini cheer quad.
“It all happened pretty quick, they were sort of shocked and didn’t know if they would get up in time but it all worked out pretty great.”
Knevitt showed some of his ability as a ball winner and hard runner in his three quarters on debut, enough to show he could match it the top level in the future, even if a few of his early kicks were rushed and missed the target.
“I was pretty happy with (the game), I thought early on I was a bit nervous and rushed a few things but I thought I got in the game as it went and I went for my marks and stuff,” he said.
“It was a really good start. I got amongst it pretty early which is good.”
Buzzing from his first game – and the 53-point win over the Giants – Knevitt and his cheer squad went out to find a bite to eat in Canberra on Saturday night, before the teen said he would “get back in it” at recovery the next morning.
KNEVITT ‘HUNGRY’ FOR MORE AFTER DEBUT
First gamer Mitch Knevitt is keen to make more of his unexpected AFL debut and make sure it is not a one-off as the “hungry” young midfielder sets his sights on earning more games for Geelong.
The Grovedale product acquitted himself well after being called up late in the week to act as the medical sub against GWS Giants, picking up 15 disposals in a promising debut.
Knevitt was given just over 24 hours warning he may be in line to play AFL for the first time and then ended up playing three quarters of the 53-point win.
The 19-year-old said he felt like he had a better understanding of his senior teammates after his debut and wanted more.
“I am definitely really hungry (to play more) and I want to keep working hard with the boys,” he said.
“You can feel like you have built a relationship with the boys just playing with them which was really good.”
Cats coach Chris Scott was impressed with the effort of Knevitt, as well as fellow debutant Cooper Stephens, who gathered 19 disposals of his own.
“We loved how composed they were,” Scott said.
“It is difficult to come in and play well against high quality … to come in and play against those guys (the Giants) I think was a real positive for them as individuals, for Mitch and Cooper but even more so for the (team) system.”
Drafted from the Geelong Falcons with the 25th overall pick in last year’s national draft, Knevitt thought he could spend a year developing in the VFL.
But the tall midfielder was called upon earlier than expected against the Giants, with the Cats down to just three available AFL-listed players to take the field in a VFL win over North Melbourne on Saturday.
“It is a great team so I sort of expected it would be a while, whether I would have the first year in the VFL (to learn),” he said.
“But everyone has been really good. We have really been pushing each other at training and there happened to be a few injuries which worked in my favour and I ended up getting the call up which was good.”
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Originally published as All the latest Geelong Cats news before big clash with St Kilda
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