Geelong rests Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield from opening JLT Series match

GEELONG is playing it safe with its star-studded midfield in this weekend’s JLT Series clash as it looks to the bigger picture. SEE THE TEAMS

Lachie Weller will play for Gold Coast. Photo by Richard Gosling

A BRUTAL pre-season has Geelong in no rush to unveil its star-studded midfield in the JLT Series.

Superstar on-ballers Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood will stay behind with Gary Ablett (hamstring) for the Cats’ practice match against Gold Coast in Townsville on Saturday.

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Star defender Harry Taylor has also been left out of Chris Scott’s side as Geelong looks to perfectly time its assault on the home and away season.

BAROMETER: YOUR CLUB’S INJURY LIST

PRE-SEASON: THE SUPERCOACH STANDOUTS

While most clubs have fielded their strongest sides given the JLT series has shrunk to two games, football manager Simon Lloyd told the Herald Sun the Cats were increasingly mindful of the bigger picture.

“They (Dangerfield and Selwood) are fine. We’re putting them through a load that’s quite combative, so we’re getting a lot of what we need through our training,” Lloyd said.

“Those guys, we just want the timing to be absolutely right so that there’s no issues whatsoever, touch wood, with either of those two.

“They’ve been out on the track doing between 12km and 14km, so they’ve been big sessions.”

Gary Ablett, Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield won’t face the Suns. Picture: Mike Dugdale

The Cats have seemed well set in each of the past two seasons, finishing the regular season in second place before meek preliminary final exits to Adelaide (2017) and Sydney (2016).

Lloyd denied the conservative ploy was a long-range attempt to reverse those results, but clearly it can’t hurt.

“You need absolutely everything going right for you at that time of year. It might be a three-minute passage of play that loses you a big final,” Lloyd said.

“Even looking at the third quarter against Richmond, we had a shot to put us in front. We weren’t playing well and they were on top of us, but it’s sliding doors a bit. You can’t afford for much to go wrong at the business end.

“There’s a huge amount of volume and max speed being done at the moment and then obviously we’ll try and back them off a bit once the season starts.

“Our sports science guys adjust things, we learn and also you’re players are changing and their bodies are changing. We had 11 first-year players last year so they’re all in their second year now and we know more about those guys.”

Lloyd said Geelong would field as stronger side as possible in the last JLT match against Essendon, but added it wasn’t the be-all and end-all.

“It will be a full dress rehearsal, but in saying that, we’ve had a lot of mini dress rehearsals in the lead up that you don’t see,” he said.

“There’s a lot of combative dress rehearsals going on, but we want that side to look as close to Round 1 as possible.”

Ablett, who said he wasn’t concerned by last week’s slight hamstring strain, said he and his teammates have been pushed to the limit.

“We’re training pretty hard at the moment, we had three solid sessions in the space of a week and I pulled up a little bit tight in the hammy,” Ablett said.

“We’re taking our bodies to the edge to try and get our legs conditioned. We’ve still got some pretty solid sessions to come.”

GOLD COAST has picked a strong side as new coach Stuart Dew looks to get his young team firing early. Only Steven May, David Swallow and Peter Wright have been left out of the Suns’ extended squad.

Luke Hodge at Lions training. Picture: Grant Wells

Luke Hodge will have to wait before making his debut in a BRISBANE LIONS jumper, with Chris Fagan not selecting him for Saturday’s clash with Sydney.

But fans will get a look at no. 1 draft pick Cameron Rayner.

The SYDNEY SWANS have a few injury concerns but have named superstar Lance Franklin.

Isaac Heeney has been named on the extended bench.

HAWTHORN will be without the likes of Grant Birchall and returning duo Cyril Rioli and James Frawley.

But Jarryd Roughead, Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O’Meara and Jack Gunston have all been named.

The Hawks take on the WESTERN BULLDOGS who will field most of their big guns as Luke Beveridge’s squad tries to recapture the magic of 2016.

Tom Liberatore will play this weekend against the Hawks. Pic: AAP

GWS GIANTS v COLLINGWOOD

Thursday 1 March, UNSW Canberra Oval, 7.10pm EDT

GIANTS

B: H. Perryman 36, P. Davis 1, J. Finlayson 31

HB: T. Mohr 39, A. Tomlinson 20, H. Shaw 23

C: L. Whitfield 6, C. Ward 8, J. Kelly 22

HF: S. Reid 50, J. Cameron 18, D. Shiel 5

F: M.de Boer 24, J. Patton 12, H. Himmelberg 27

Foll: D. Simpson 26, S. Coniglio 3, R. Griffen 32

I/C: N. Shipley 34, T. Taranto 14, Z. Langdon 17, L. Tiziani 33, L. Keeffe 25, M. Flynn 30, D. Lloyd 38

MAGPIES

B: L. Dunn 15, B. Mihocek 41, F. Appleby 31

HB: J. Crisp 25, A. Oxley 43, T. Langdon 8

C: J. Smith 40, T. Adams 13, J. Aish 14

HF: T. Varcoe 18, C. Mayne 16, T. Broomhead 29

F: C. Brown 17, M. Cox 46, B. Maynard 37

Foll: B. Grundy 4, S. Pendlebury 10, S. Sidebottom 22

I/C: J. Blair 11, J. Stephenson 35, J. Thomas 24, T. Goldsack 6, W. Hoskin-Elliott 32, S. McLarty 23, B Reid 20, T. Phillips 21

Jaeger O'Meara appears over his knee troubles. Pic: Michael Klein

WESTERN BULLDOGS v HAWTHORN

Saturday 3 March, Mars Stadium Ballarat, 2.05pm EDT

WESTERN BULLDOGS

B: E. Wood 10, Z. Cordy 12, A. Naughton 33

HB: J. Johannisen 39, M. Adams 25, H. Crozier 9

C: L. Hunter 7, L. Dahlhaus 6, B. Dale 31

HF: T. Liberatore 21, L. Jong 46, M. Suckling 1

F: M. Bontempelli 4, J. Trengove 8, M. Honeychurch 22

Foll: J. Roughead 23, T. McLean 16, J. Macrae 11

I/C: J. Dunkley 5, J. Schache 13, L. Webb 19, S. Biggs 24, B. Williams 34, C. Daniel 35, L. Picken 42, T. English 44

Emerg: T. Boyd 17, F. Roberts 18, T. Dickson 29, J. Redpath 43

HAWTHORN

B: Ben Stratton, Tim O’Brien, Shaun Burgoyne

HB: Blake Hardwick, James Sicily, Ryan Burton

C: Isaac Smith, Liam Shiels, Ricky Henderson

HF: Luke Breust, Ryan Schoenmakers, Jarman Impey

F: Paul Puopolo, Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston

R: Ben McEvoy, Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O’Meara

INT: Marc Pittonet, David Mirra, Harry Morrison, Brendan Whitecross, Daniel Howe, Taylor Duryea, Oliver Hanrahan

EMER: Conor Glass, Teia Miles, James Cousins, James Worpel, Conor Nash

Buddy seems set to play this weekend. Pic: Getty Images

BRISBANE LIONS v SYDNEY SWANS

Saturday 3 March, Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex, 3.30pm EST

BRISBANE

B: S. Mayes 32, D. McStay 25, D. Gardiner 27

HB: N. Robertson 18, H. Andrews 31, A. Witherden 29

C: D. Rich 10, C. Cameron 23, R. Lester 35

HF: L. Taylor 28, A. Christensen 3, H. McCluggage 6

F: M. Robinson 5, E. Hipwood 30, C. Rayner 16

Foll: S. Martin 12, J. Berry 13, R. Mathieson 36

I/C: B. Keays 1, R. Bastinac 4, T. Bell 7, J. Walker 14, J. Allison 19, C. Cox 20, J. Payne 40, J. Barrett 43

Emerg: R. Bewick 8, T. Cutler 26, B. Starcevich 37, O. McInerney 46

SYDNEY

B: Nick Smith, Lewis Melican, Aliir Aliir

HB: Nic Newman, Dane Rampe, Gary Rohan

C: Harry Cunningham, Josh Kennedy, Jake Lloyd

HF: George Hewett, Sam Reid, Will Hayward

F: Tom Papley, Lance Franklin, Dean Towers

Foll: Sam Naismith, Luke Parker, Kieren Jack

Int (from): Isaac Heeney, Oliver Florent, Callum Mills, Callum Sinclair

Robbie Fox, Ryley Stoddart, James Rose, Harry Marsh

Emerg: Darcy Cameron, Jordan Foote, Tom McCartin, Dan Robinson

GOLD COAST SUNS v GEELONG

Sunday 4 March, Riverway Stadium Townsville, 3.35pm EST

Squads:

GOLD COAST

B: J. Harbrow 5, J. Leslie 21, J. Joyce 38

HB: P. Hanley 1, R. Thompson 16, K. Kolodjashnij 10

C: L. Weller 14, B. Fiorini 8, A. Hall 33

HF: J. Martin 4, T. Lynch 19, J. Lyons 25

F: A. Sexton 6, S. Day 12, S. Lemmens 23

Foll: J. Witts 28, T. Miller 11, A. Young 15

I/C from: T. Nicholls 22, M. Rosa 3, B. Ainsworth 9, D. MacPherson 44, M. Rischitelli 35, J. Bowes 29, W. Brodie 41, N. Holman 39, B. Scheer 18, M. Spencer 43, M. Barlow 20, M. Willis 34

GEELONG

B: J. Kolodjashnij 8, T. Stewart 44, J. Thurlow 40

HB: Z. Tuohy 2, J. Bews 24, Z. Guthrie 39

C: J. Murdoch 21, M. Duncan 22, M. Blicavs 46

HF: J. Parsons 34, R. Stanley, 1 B. Parfitt 3

F: J. Cunico 31, T. Hawkins 26, D. Menzel 10

Foll: Z. Smith 9, S. Menegola 27, C. Guthrie 29

I/C from: A. Black 23, W. Buzza 12, C. Constable 18, L. Fogarty 13, R. Gardner 20, C. Gregson 28, G. Horlin-Smith 33, J. Jones 41, E. Ratugolea 17, T. Kelly 11, G. Miers 32, M.O’Connor 42