GEELONG should regain at least one of its grand final heroes for Friday night’s round 11 clash with North Melbourne at Telstra Dome.
The Cats were without both Paul Chapman (hamstring) and Cameron Mooney (shoulder) in last week’s 56-point thumping of Carlton but coach Mark Thompson said his smaller forward was the more likely to return this week.
One man sweating on Mooney’s shoulder injury is Geelong forward Tom Hawkins, with Thompson admitting the young powerhouse could face a return to the VFL should the All-Australian centre-half forward be passed fit.
“We’re not sure if he [Mooney] is going to play yet, so if he gets up you know we’ve just got to make a decision whether we play three [tall forwards] or just go with two,” Thompson said.
“We’re not sure whether Moons is going to get up at this stage.”
Thompson said the club was thrilled by the return of Tom Lonergan, who impressed against the Blues and was likely to play against the Kangaroos.
While the coach said Chapman “should be right to play”, the Cats will have to wait until after Thursday’s training session before determining if defender Josh Hunt has recovered sufficiently from a shoulder complaint.
Mooney is still suffering soreness after copping a knock early in the Cats’ round nine loss to Collingwood.
On that night Geelong was harassed and tackled ferociously by the Magpies and Thompson expects a similar effort from North Melbourne on Friday night.
Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley played under Mick Malthouse at West Coast and also learnt from the long-time senior coach when serving his apprenticeship as an assistant at Collingwood.
“I suppose that Mick and Dean have been pretty good friends and no doubt they would have spoken this week about what Collingwood did [to us],” Thompson said.
“We’re expecting a little bit of that and it’ll be a good test for us.”
Geelong, however, did return to some of its best form last week.
Ruckman Brad Ottens returned to the team and will this week play his second match of the season, although Thompson said the club wouldn’t expect too much of the big man, instead taking a softly, softly approach with their star – knowing how important he is to the premier’s hopes of going back-to-back.
“We just really have to nurse him back into some form,” he said.
“He’s had a history of sore groins and he’s got to get over this foot … he’s going to need a month and we’re going to have to look after him for a month and maybe more.
“I just thought what he did last year was just outstanding.
“It helped us so much, so we have to make sure we do everything we can to manage him and make sure he’s there for a long time and that there’s no more hiccups.”
