Geelong coach Chris Scott unaware that Cats release an injury list and explains why Tom Stewart, Gryan Miers were left out

Geelong’s reporting of injuries has come under question, and coach Chris Scott has made a surprise response. Plus, he explained why Tom Stewart and Gryan Miers were left out.

Geelong coach Chris Scott has claimed he was unaware the Cats release a weekly injury list as he said the club will continue to err on the side of caution with players in doubt.

The league mandated last year that clubs must give more detailed and specific injury updates.

Cats vice-captain Tom Stewart was not mentioned on their injury report on Tuesday despite a minor knee setback against Carlton, but will miss Geelong’s bumper clash with Collingwood on Saturday with an injury that Scott said “snuck up” on them.

Veteran Mitch Duncan has replaced Stewart in the line-up for his first AFL game of 2025 and Scott said the 296-game Cat would have played regardless of Stewart’s availability.

Scott revealed that Stewart was ruled out on Thursday before he missed their main session at Waurn Ponds Deakin.

Scott also said Gryan Miers was ruled out on Wednesday after a minor hiccup as he worked through the AFL’s 12-day concussion protocols.

Tom Stewart suffered a setback against Carlton. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Geelong’s round eight injury list included seven players with ‘TBC’ as their return timeline, but many of those were injury-prone or developing players with unclear return timelines, such as Cam Guthrie (ankle), Jack Martin (management), Mitch Edwards (management) and Toby Conway (back).

It is understood the Cats feel they would be criticised regardless, because more specific timelines for players with uncertain return dates would be scrutinised when players do not return within the time frame.

The Cats have also had five changes an hour out from the bounce in five of their seven matches this season, which Scott has defended in recent weeks.

The two-time premiership coach says he leaves injury calls to his medical staff, including the decision to allow Stewart to play on against Carlton.

“I didn’t even know that we release an injury list,” Scott said.

“Is there a conspiracy theory, is there something going on in the shadows, you people?” he added in the direction of Geelong’s media staff.

“But I think likely, if I can speculate, is that we thought he would be okay.”

“Stewart (call) was made probably pre-training (on Thursday) and it maybe snuck up on us a little bit.

“He was obviously sore from early in the game against Carlton and battled on to get through, just didn’t recover as well as we would have liked.

“Gryan Miers is a different situation. I don’t really get much feedback (on concussions), and I don’t want it.

“There was some very minor hiccup in there that meant he was unavailable this week. (On Wednesday) he was out there for our whole session.

“I am sort of giving a bit more information than I normally would, just be clear that there’s nothing nefarious here. It’s just a conservative call made by the people who make those calls.”

Pressed on whether Jack Henry’s hamstring blow had recovered as hoped, with a 3-4 week timeline ahead of round five now 1-3 weeks, Scott said he was an example of the “wide spectrum” of some injury timelines.

Jack Henry after his blow against Melbourne. Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“As opposed to these people who say hamstrings are 21 days, every situation is different and difficult to predict,” Scott said.

“You guys ask for specifics, and we could lie and say it’s going to be three and a half weeks, or we could tell you the truth and say, ‘We’re optimistic that it could be two and a half, but hey, it might be five, we don’t know’.

“But there’s no issue that I’m aware of that’s sort of changed things. But again, I think the takeaway should be, ‘If we are umming and ahing a bit, we will take an extra week.”

Scott said the Cats have looked to get 33-year-old Duncan into the side.

Out-of-form forward Henry started as the substitute last week and Scott would not confirm whether he would be in the 22 against his former side Collingwood.

But Scott said the Cats would try to target Henry more inside 50, something that “hasn’t been by design”.

“There has been a little bit of thought given to how we use Mitch through this period,” Scott said.

“So it was at least in the back of our minds that this was a possibility, and the Stewart thing probably helped a little bit, but I suspect we would have done it anyway

“We don’t think Ollie needs to be our main focal target inside 50 to play well, but we would like to direct the ball through him a little bit more. So we’ve talked about making that adjustment.”

Duncan and uncapped midfielder George Stevens were both AFL carry-over emergencies for their loss to Carlton and said the second-year Cat was close to a debut.

“It’s always a good indication when you’re a carry-over, because it means if something happens, we’d be happy for him to play,” Scott said. “He’s in the squad again and right in the frame, so he’s doing a good job.”

Originally published as Geelong coach Chris Scott unaware that Cats release an injury list and explains why Tom Stewart, Gryan Miers were left out