GEELONG forward Shane Kersten could make his debut in Friday night's knockout semi-final against Port Adelaide at the MCG if Tom Hawkins fails to overcome his back problems.
Hawkins, who missed last weekend's loss to Fremantle, is likely to be named in the Cats' team on Thursday night.
But if his back soreness flares again on Friday morning, Geelong coach Chris Scott says that 20-year-old Kersten, who has booted 36 goals in 11 VFL games this year, could be thrown into the fray.
"Shane Kersten's been very solid in the VFL this year," Scott said at Simonds Stadium on Tuesday morning.
"He's been unfortunate at times to miss with injury when he was on the precipice of senior selection.
"I'm bringing it up as an option. It's not a guarantee. It's probably not even a likelihood that we would bring him in.
"But (if we don't) it won't be because we're worried that he won't perform on the big stage."
One of the most famous cases of a player making his debut in a final occurred in 1982 when Dermott Brereton kicked five goals in a semi-final against North Melbourne.
More recently, small forward Andrew Hooper made his debut for the Western Bulldogs in a semi-final against the Sydney Swans in 2010.
"Personally, I wouldn't have issues bringing in a debutant for a big game," Scott said.
"It would be bold, but I kind of like that."
Scott and his selection committee are also thinking about bringing back ruckman Trent West, who has struggled to find his best form this season.
The Cats are concerned about how to combat Port big man Matthew Lobbe after he won 59 hit-outs and collected 17 disposals at Simonds Stadium in round 20.
"We'll definitely look at (West) again," Scott said. "The centre bounces really hurt us last week. We were disappointed in that."
Geelong has already ruled star defender Corey Enright out of Friday night's game after he suffered a medial ligament strain in the loss to Fremantle on Saturday.
Josh Hunt is the front-runner to replace Enright, although George Horlin-Smith and Taylor Hunt, who was a late withdrawal on the weekend after failing to overcome an ankle problem, are among a number of other players in the mix.
Josh Caddy and Andrew Mackie are both battling ankle injuries, although they should be fit to take on the Power.
"We're extremely confident there," Scott said.
The Cats reviewed their loss to Fremantle but have quickly moved on.
"We can't escape from the fact that we're very disappointed with the way we played on the big stage," Scott said.
"But I've been very impressed with the optimism and the positivity of the whole club, not just the players and the coaches.
"We're still in a very nice position. The equation's the same for us: you've got to win three games through the finals series to win the premiership, and that's still the equation for us.
"We were good enough to get the double-chance, not good enough last week, but pretty confident that our best footy will still be good enough."
