Geelong rules Mitch Duncan out as it prepares to tackle Essendon in round 1

A group of Geelong senior players pushing their case for selection won’t appear in round 1, while Tyson Stengle’s role in the forward line has been revealed.

Veteran midfielder Mitch Duncan headlines a group of senior Cats ruled out of Saturday’s season opener against Essendon, but livewire recruit Tyson Stengle will make his Geelong debut.

Despite showing good signs in the past fortnight, Duncan didn’t get to the line after suffering a calf injury late in pre-season.

Mitch Duncan will be held back a week. Picture: Alison Wynd

Defender Jed Bews will also miss the clash, having not recovered from the concussion he picked up on the Gold Coast in the Community Series in time.

Utility Mark O’Connor (knee) will be held back, while Sam Menegola and Gryan Miers were also ruled out.

The Cats worked on stoppage set ups on Wednesday morning, with most of the best-22 players in blue training jumpers, while the likes of Shaun Higgins, Luke Dahlhaus and Quinton Narkle played as opposition in orange, possibly hinting they will miss selection.

Ruck Jonathon Ceglar (knee) and midfielder Sam Simpson (concussion) both started the session running laps.

Jack Henry has been cleared to play after he impressed on return from a footy injury in a VFL practice match against Newtown & Chilwell and will play.

Jack Henry has made it to the line in round 1. Picture: Alan Barber

Geelong coach Chris Scott said the Cats had taken a cautious route with its injured group but they could all be available within the opening rounds of the season.

“We are going to hold Mitch back, so that was a difficult decision for us because Mitch has been moving well the last couple of weeks but we are going to play the long game with a few of our really good players this week,” he said.

“Mitch is part of a group that are all short-term (injuries), we expect to have them back really soon into the season.”

Stengle will slot in at the feet of twin towers Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins after booting four goals in a practice game against Richmond and Scott said the former Tiger and Crow would add something different to the forward line as a genuine goalkicking threat.

“He is a great story, AFL footy generally does a great job of providing second chances to people and he hasn’t put a footy wrong this pre-season,” Scott said.

Tyson Stengle has earned a debut. Photo by Michael Klein

“We didn’t bring him in on a guarantee that he is in our team, he has to train and play and perform his way into our 22 for round 1 and he has done that really well.”

Scott confirmed youngster Sam De Koning would play the second game of his career as a tall defender.

Originally published as Geelong rules Mitch Duncan out as it prepares to tackle Essendon in round 1