Cats to leave decision on Steve Johnson to last minute

GEELONG coach Chris Scott says he won't know until later in the week whether forward Steve Johnson will play against Hawthorn.

Steve Johnson

GEELONG coach Chris Scott says he won't know until later in the week whether forward Steve Johnson will play against Hawthorn.

Johnson was subbed out after copping a head knock in the opening seconds of last week's win over Adelaide.

Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson was yesterday cleared by the match review panel over the bump.

Scott said today that Johnson would be named on Thursday night but a decision on whether he takes the field against Hawthorn on Friday night is likely to be made on game day.

"He seems pretty good but it's just so hard to tell,'' Scott said.

"We're going to have to wait until the end of the week.

"The indications are positive. It would be unlikely that the indications would be really negative ... he doesn't have any tangible symptoms at the moment but that doesn't mean that he will pass all the tests later in the week,'' Scott said.

"But we'll certainly wait until Thursday before doing too much work with him.

"We'll name him in the side and then wait and see how he goes after our last session,"

Fellow forward James Podsiadly is likely to play, with Josh Walker expected to keep his place in what would become a three-pronged tall forward line.

David Wojcinski, whose season has been plagued by injury and suspension, will return through the VFL this week.

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Scott said the match would provide the Cats with a vital test of their form with the finals looming, but he said he did not need any examination to know the side had to improve.

"In the context of our season, it's a big game,'' Scott said.

"We think we've played pretty well the last couple of weeks but we know we need to play better against the Hawks.''

Scott said just how much the team needed to lift was difficult to pinpoint as some areas had been better than others.

"It's really hard to quantify,'' he said. "Some parts of our game have been really good. In and around the contests, I think we've been pretty strong, although we were beaten convincingly at the clearances (last week).

"I think if that happens against the Hawks, we'll probably be in a bit of trouble.

"We probably need to continue to work on our defence as well - they are so good with their skill that if we slacken off at all, they are going to hurt us.''

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Scott said Geelong's recent string of victories against Hawthorn would probably be irrelevant on Friday night.

"I don't really place much weight on it at all.

"My great (Brisbane) coach Leigh Matthews once said that anything longer than four weeks ago was ancient history.

"I'm not sure if it means anything to Hawthorn but I think our guys have a belief, not so much that they can beat Hawthorn but, when they play their best, they can beat anyone.''