Injured Geelong captain Joel Selwood set to play for Cats against Richmond in qualifying final

GEELONG is supremely confident injured captain Joel Selwood will be fit for the Cats’ blockbuster qualifying final with Richmond on Friday night.

Geelong captain Joel Selwood appears certain to play against Richmond, despite injury. Picture: Getty Images

JOEL Selwood is almost certain to play Richmond in Friday night’s huge qualifying final after featuring in Geelong’s match practice yesterday.

The Cats’ captain, who is making rapid progress in his recovery from an ankle syndesmosis injury suffered in the Round 20 loss to Sydney, trained away from the main group before joining the fray late in the hitout.

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Geelong captain Joel Selwood appears certain to play against Richmond, despite injury. Picture: Getty Images

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Selwood got through the session without problem, paving the way for an extraordinary return just 32 days after surgery.

“Oh look, I’m going well and that’s all I can really say,” Selwood said after training.

“I’ll let it continue to go this way and I’d be more likely than unlikely.

“We’ll wait right up to the moment and we’ll see how I’m feeling, but ... I probably expect to be named.”

Selwood at Geelong traingin on Friday. Picture: Mike Dugdale

Selwood went under the knife of David Young on August 7. Dr Young is the same surgeon who saved Tom Liberatore’s 2016 season at the Western Bulldogs.

Liberatore was seen to have done the impossible when he overcame the serious injury in six weeks to run out for a preliminary final against West Coast.

He and teammate Jack Macrae (hamstring tendon) spent weeks behind closed doors at Victoria University’s “altitude hotel” and “heat chamber”.

Selwood is said to have been typically fanatical in his recovery after an operation Geelong described as “really successful”.

Selwood wrecked his ankle against the Swans in Round 20. Picture: Getty Images

But sports medico Peter Larkins last week told the Herald Sun that there were risks associated with an early return, with a recurrence potentially affecting Selwood’s 2018 season.

“The problem if you have a recurrence is you can have chronic ankle problems going forward into 2018 which is a big risk,” Larkins said.

“The risk is you damage this synthetic ligament which is used to hold the bones together and if he tore it again he would need more surgery.”