GEELONG faces selection dilemmas ahead of a final game it needs to win to guarantee a top-four finish.

And coach Chris Scott says that Cats won't be afraid to make changes.

Veteran Jimmy Bartel will return and defender Lachie Henderson will miss with a knee injury, but questions remain on Josh Caddy, Nakia Cockatoo and Daniel Menzel playing against Melbourne.

Scott said no player with a fitness query would be risked on the eve of the finals, and admitted selection was an uncomfortable task.

"There are players we regard as 'ins', but we can't necessarily get them all in this week, so the 'outs' are much, much harder," he said.

"Front and centre is their fitness. We're not going to do anything to compromise their availability for a finals series."

That philosophy might see a couple of players miss round 23 if it helped them overcome niggling injuries despite the unprecedented bye ahead of this year's finals series, Scott said.

"We haven't been scared to make big changes in the past. We don't think that that disrupts us too much.

"[We'll] prioritise what we think is the best 22 over having a really stable consistent group."

Scott admitted Henderson faced a race against time to play in the first week of the finals after surgery on his knee.

He said the in-form 27-year-old had felt a catch in his knee at the end of the game against the Lions and a small procedure was required to fix the problem.

Scott was more hopeful than confident Henderson would return, given it was unknown how far the Cats would progress in the finals.

"The outlook is really positive, but there is no doubt there is a little bit of a race against time," Scott said.

The coach conceded Henderson's absence would hurt but said the Cats were better placed in 2016 than in previous years to cover his loss.

Scott was reluctant to talk about North Melbourne's decision not to offer veteran Brent Harvey a contract for 2017, particularly with the Kangaroos coached by his brother Brad.

He said he empathised with any club in North Melbourne's situation.

"It's brutal. It's the hardest thing that you do as a team. I know the coach is front and centre, but these things are team and club decisions," Scott said.

"There are a big group of decision makers that arrive at these decisions and I know from personal experience they're not decisions that are made lightly. A lot of time and thought goes into it."