Harley left the field late in the first quarter and didn’t return. Early indications are that he’ll miss a minimum of two games.
The standard three-week recovery period will include the mid-season bye that the Cats have after next week’s clash with West Coast in Perth.
Knee surgery caused Harley to miss the first six games of 2009 and Sunday was just his fourth match for the season.
Knee problems also plagued him during Geelong’s premiership year of 2007, but he played all 25 matches in 2008.
“He has had a pretty tough time of it but it usually happens if you haven’t had a pre-season and come back and play, it is a bit of a struggle,” Geelong coach Mark Thompson said after his side's 10th straight win of the season.
Joel Corey is also likely to miss next week with plantar fasciitis.
Corey withdrew on Sunday morning before the game and it is likely he’ll take the next fortnight off as well [including the bye].
Gary Ablett left the field with a sore ankle late in Sunday’s match but the Cats didn’t consider the injury to be a major concern.
Thompson said Corey’s injury had opened the door for some other players.
“In some respects it’s a good thing because it gives Shannon Byrnes another game and Nathan Dkerrkura, and Travis Varcoe got more time in the middle,” he said.
“It has been sore for a couple of weeks and yesterday he went to run and it was just painful so he [thought] he probably shouldn’t play.”
