GEELONG remains hopeful that ruckman Hamish McIntosh will be available for next week's preliminary final in Sydney, if the Cats make it, despite undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday.
McIntosh suffered knee soreness during the qualifying final loss to Hawthorn and was subbed out during the final quarter.
Earlier this week, Geelong coach Chris Scott ruled him out of Friday night's elimination final against North Melbourne, although the club did not confirm the surgery until Thursday.
"He just laboured too badly on that sore knee on the weekend, so we've got to do something about it," Scott said.
"We're hopeful that Hamish can go through a rehab plan over the next week, week and a half, to get himself in a position, if we're good enough to win on Friday night, to play the following week."
