Jack Steven expected to make Geelong debut in Round 3 against Carlton
Geelong faces a tough selection call about who makes way for star recruit Jack Steven, with the ex-Saint in line to make his debut against Carlton. Plus, the latest on Nakia Cockatoo’s injury.
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Geelong’s enviable depth in its small forward ranks means Chris Scott must drop an in-form player if he is to find room for Jack Steven’s Cats debut on Saturday night.
The Cats will train on Tuesday with more encouraging news on powerful mid-sized forward Nakia Cockatoo, back training strongly as he eyes a return to football.
The Herald Sun understands he has been consulting on his persistent hamstring issues with sports physiotherapist Peter Stanton, the man who helped fix Harley Bennell’s calves.
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He is still several weeks from football but is back in full training and ramping up his program after only two games since the start of 2018.
He took the field in a Friday night training session alongside Steven before the Cats’ win over Hawthorn, with all indications Steven will play against Carlton.
But the Cats would have to drop an experienced player like Gary Rohan to find room in their forward line.
If Cockatoo and Steven can get up and running it could be one of footy’s most dangerous brigade of small forwards.
Against Hawthorn Gary Ablett was at his spectacular best (two goals, 21 touches), Gryan Miers had 20 possessions and three goals, Tom Atkins kicked two goals from 13 possessions and Sam Menegola and Luke Dahlhaus both kicked a pair of goals.
Rohan limped off with a sore knee but returned and has been passed fully fit after a five-possession, one-goal outing.
Geelong made clear last week Steven was physically ready to make his debut but after only two weeks of training after a stabbing they made him wait one week.
In his post-match press conference coach after a 61-point victory Chris Scott said the club had a decision to make.
A Saturday night home clash against Carlton would be the perfect time to launch Steven’s Cats career.
“He is a flexible player Jack and it looks like he has embraced the way that we want him to play, which is important because whenever you bring in a new player it can upset the cohesion a little bit, but we think we have a few options with him,” Scott said.
“If he doesn’t play (next week) it will be a conservative call.”
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Geelong is understandably cautious about Cockatoo given a long list of injuries but he remains one of the most explosive players in the competition.
“We had some good numbers out on the training track on Friday pre the AFL game,” football boss Simon Lloyd said.
“Nakia is starting to hit some top speed and he’s completing a lot of the football sessions at the moment so he’s progressing really well.”