Geelong coach Chris Scott has detailed the club's decision not to name either Sam De Koning or Zach Tuohy for Saturday's preliminary final, with the Cats coach even admitting he's "not sure it's the right call" to drop the Irishman.
Tuohy was Geelong's sole out, with five-time All-Australian Tom Stewart returning after missing the Cats' qualifying final win over Port Adelaide with illness.
The decision to identify Tuohy as Stewart's replacement was "one of the harder calls" Scott has had to make at selection in "a long, long time".
Offering insight into the Cats' preliminary final planning, the dual premiership coach said Tuohy had responded well to the decision - one which Scott might not have totally agreed with.
"That was one of the harder calls we've had to make in a long, long time," Scott said on Friday.
"I'll emphasise that it was a call we made given the circumstances of this particular game. If we play well enough and get through, then the circumstances are different. That'd give rise to a whole new set of questions we'd have to answer.
"More broadly, as a coaching group in particular, we've been really proud of the way our players have approached the last month or two. We have had some very highly credentialed players, and Zach is clearly one of those, who have been in the mix who unfortunately aren't playing tomorrow night.
"We don't often say this as coaches... I'm not sure it's the right call, but it's a call we made. Even after the fact, we're not going to be able to prove if it's right or wrong. The only thing we can guarantee is that a lot of thought went into it."
De Koning's absence in the 23-man side to face the Lions was another intriguing call from the Cats, with the premiership defender having a solid history on Brisbane spearhead Joe Daniher in recent years.
The key defender hasn't played since Round 21 due to a knee injury that required subsequent surgery, with De Koning lacking the needed preparation to take the spot of a teammate for this week.
"Really strongly (we considered naming him). There's a whole lot of things that go into that decision, but the obvious one with Sam is that he hasn't had the preparation that some of our other guys have had," Scott said.
"I think I've said enough about Sam over the years for everyone to be clear how highly I rate him, but at this time of year, they're so close to 50-50 decisions, the pendulum does sort of sneaks towards the guys who have had better preparation.
"The fortunate thing for Sam is he's got a lot of work in since he had that surgery. He's played a couple of VFL games. If we're good enough on Saturday night, then the conversation changes again and we go back to square one and work through that painstaking process again."
Scott revealed that veteran pair Tom Hawkins (foot) and Cameron Guthrie (Achilles) fell short of being available this week but remain a chance to be in the selection mix for next week's grand final should the Cats be victorious at the MCG on Saturday night.
The winner of Geelong vs Brisbane will face either Sydney or Port Adelaide in next weekend's AFL Grand Final.
