GEELONG is refusing to rule Steve Johnson out of Saturday's Grand Final against Collingwood, despite the star forward suffering a wrenched knee during the Cats' 48-point win over West Coast in the second preliminary final at the MCG.
The incident occurred at half-forward for the Cats, eight minutes into the third quarter, after Johnson was tackled by Eagles midfielder Andrew Embley.
The 2007 Norm Smith medallist's left knee buckled sideways, and the incident looked so bad that the crowd gasped when it was replayed on the big screens.
Johnson writhed in pain before he was taken from the field on a stretcher.
"I saw the replay, and it didn't look good to me, so obviously we were really disappointed," Cats coach Chris Scott said after the match.
"But the doctors certainly haven't ruled him out, so I guess that's a positive."
Johnson's chances of playing against the Magpies were boosted when he thrilled the pro-Geelong crowd by walking - with only a minor limp - to the Cats' bench early in the last term.
The 28-year-old took to Twitter after the final siren.
"Thks everyone 4 the support," his tweet read. "I need a scan but will do everything I can 2 get right!
"Gr8 win by boys..Thks so much to crowd I loved cheer!!"
Johnson will have the injury scanned on Sunday.
"There's no point speculating any further until we get a better diagnosis," Scott added.
Small forward Shannon Byrnes, himself a two-time premiership player, shapes as the most likely replacement if Johnson is unable to recover from the injury in time for Saturday's decider.
Byrnes, who has struggled to overcome a range of leg problems during 2011, was an emergency for the clash with the Eagles.
Veterans Cameron Mooney and Darren Milburn were the other emergencies on Saturday, and both are certain to be considered.
"If [Milburn] needs to step in, we won't have any problems around his ability to handle the pressure, even with the lack of [recent] games," Scott said.
"Cam Mooney is the same. Then we've got a big group of younger players who have served us well all year.
"Taylor Hunt springs to mind. He's made a big contribution to our performance this year, so we'd like to think he would be OK to come in.
"Then there are guys who haven't played a of footy, but are guys we're excited about. Steven Motlop for example.
"So we think we've got a big group of players who could contribute, but we've just got to see where we are midweek before we make those decisions."
The injury to Johnson comes only two weeks after the Cats lost another dynamic forward, Daniel Menzel, to a serious knee injury that will sideline him for 12 months.
"They're both in our best 22, so when they're missing we're disappointed," Scott said.
"Dan Menzel was in terrific form, and if he was fit he'd certainly be playing next week, so it's disappointing for him."
