THE INJURY gods have struck Travis Varcoe once again and the Geelong speedster is facing another prolonged spell on the sidelines.

 

Varcoe suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first term of Saturday night's 16-point win over Carlton and was subbed out of the game almost immediately.

 

Varcoe, who turned 25 earlier this week, played just one game last year because of stress fractures in his foot and was regarded by the Cats as a virtual recruit for 2013.

 

"He's had a wretched run, poor Trav," said Cats coach Chris Scott afterwards. "We don't know exactly what the prognosis is, but it doesn't look good."

 

He forecast the Cats would treat the injury with caution and won't hesitate to put him under the knife if that is the medical recommendation. He may miss up to three months of football, but could be back running within five weeks if that is the case.

 

"Compared to some of the issues Travis has had to deal with in the last couple of years this is relatively minor, but it doesn't stop him from feeling pretty down and we feel for him as well," Scott said.

 

Otherwise, it was a routine sort of night for the 2013 Cats. They held the lead, lost it and then displayed considerable resolve to get it back and kick away in the third quarter, only for the Blues to hit back in the last. 

The Cats led by 33 points at one stage, but had some anxious moments as the Blues reduced the margin to 10 points before a late steadier steered them home and left them unbeaten after three games this year,

 

"I thought we were well in control of the game in the third quarter but we let that slip unfortunately," Scott said.

 

"We have a degree of confidence that when the game is on the line our guys would step up, but it would be foolhardy to expect we can do that every time against good opposition, which Carlton are. 

 

"We feel a little relieved they missed some of the shots they did."

 

Scott praised the work of Taylor Hunt, who had a tagging role on Carlton skipper Marc Murphy but kicked three goals of his own and of swingman Harry Taylor, who took some critical relieving marks down back but also pushed forward and kicked two important goals.

 

He also praised the club's fitness and conditioning staff as the Cats managed their second straight six-day break, with another short week looming ahead of Friday night's clash with the Sydney Swans at the SCG.