Geelong will regain ruckman Rhys Stanley for Thursday's clash with Melbourne, while the club has provided updates on several key players, including Patrick Dangerfield and Esava Ratugolea.
Stanley has been sidelined since Geelong's trip to South Australia to face West Coast in Gather Round due to a facial fracture, with the premiership veteran making his return to the field last weekend in the VFL.
Stanley played three quarters in the club's narrow win over Frankston to put himself in contention for a return against Demons pair Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy this week at senior level.
The Cats could also welcome back Irishman Oisin Mullin for the Round 15 clash after an adductor injury, while young midfielder Tanner Bruhn looks to have shaken off a shoulder concern to be in the mix to face Melbourne as well.
โRhys played three quarters of football and did a bit of top up running at the very end and we expect Rhys to be available this week,โ Geelong football boss Simon Lloyd said in a club injury update.
โObviously it's been a long period of time with Rhys's recovery from a facial fracture but great to have him back.
โTanner suffered a shoulder injury and was able to play out the game and Oisin missed with an adductor last week as well, so both those players have trained strongly today and we expect them to both be available this week.โ
Stanley's return will come after second-string ruckman Jon Ceglar was sidelined with an adductor injury for last week's matchup with Port Adelaide.
Ceglar, alongside defender Esava Ratugolea (hamstring) have both commenced training but will require more time in rehabilitation.
โEsava is training really well and hitting all of his high speed markers, so the decision will be made between Chris Scott and the coaching team, working very closely with the medical department, as to when he's available but he's very close," Lloyd said.
Geelong will be without captain Patrick Dangerfield for this week at the very least after the Brownlow Medal winner suffered rib and lung injuries in the loss to Port Adelaide.
โWe'll be guided by our medical team," Lloyd said on Dangerfield's return timeframe.
"He was obviously quite ginger post game but he's moving around freely now but it we will be guided by our medical team as to all of the results that they receive throughout the course of the week and we'll judge his availability in due course.โ
Veteran midfielder Sam Menegola (knee) and young ruck-forward Shannon Neale (ankle) will both play VFL this weekend, with the former set to feature in his first on -field stint for the year.
โSam's obviously come back from a long lay off with knee arthroscopes and Shannon Neale with ankle surgery, but they'll both return this week and play some VFL football," Lloyd said.
โIt's really exciting for our fans, our supporters and our members and exciting for the club as well to have both Sam and Shannon return in the hoops this week.โ
Geelong will host Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday night at 7:20pm (AEST).
