GEELONG officials are adamant captain Joel Selwood's hamstring concern is not serious.
Selwood felt tightness – described as "hamstring awareness" – in the back of his leg during the first quarter of the Cats' 13-point NAB Challenge win over Melbourne at TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs.
The Cats' skipper did not take any further part in the match and Geelong coach Chris Scott said there was no point in taking any risks with round one against Adelaide just under three weeks away.
"For those really, really minor hamstring concerns, scans are a waste of time," Scott said at his post-game press conference.
"The short-term prognosis is that he'll be fine."
Selwood – who was making his return following foot surgery in January – was seen signing autographs and posing for photos with fans on the ground after the game.
Selwood implicitly told Scott that he could have kept playing if required.
Scott was thrilled with ruckman Hamish McIntosh's efforts in his first game for Geelong and, amazingly, his first in 655 days.
The Cats were careful to manage the injury-affected big man – limiting his game time to a little more than 30 minutes.
"How good was that? It was really good to see him out there," Scott said.
"We didn't really care how he played, to be honest, so it's a start. We know Hamish has got a long way to go, but I thought he competed really strongly for a guy that virtually hasn't played for three years."
Scott said the Cats big man was in "contention" to play against the Crows in round one, but Geelong is yet to settle on its preferred ruck setup.
Dawson Simpson and the versatile Mark Blicavs are the other options the Cats have in their keeping.
Blicavs is likely to play in round one, given his ability to play a variety of positions, but Scott said it was unlikely both Simpson and McIntosh would be there together.
"There's some chance that we'll take the two of them in, but that's not the probability at this stage," Scott said.
With Nathan Vardy out with a season-ending knee injury and George Burbury sidelined with a jaw injury, Scott was pleased to see Mitch Brown and Lincoln McCarthy step up to grab their chances against the Demons.
Brown booted three majors and took seven marks in a confident display, while McCarthy looked dangerous at ground level at times.
With injuries to Vardy, Allen Christensen (back) and Steven Motlop (knee), Scott said both Brown and McCarthy are firmly in Geelong's best 22 at this point in time.
Melbourne coach Paul Roos said his side showed determination to play themselves back into the contest, after the team found itself down by 24 points at the first change.
"Our resilience was tested early in the season and at least we responded quite positively," Roos said after the match.
Young Demons forward Jesse Hogan displayed some positive signs, booting a goal and taking seven marks from his 13 possessions.
The Demons have been forced to scrape together a makeshift forward line with Mitch Clark and Chris Dawes yet to play this year.
"What I liked about him (Hogan), he presented up at the footy and, at the moment, we haven't got a lot of that because we don't have our key talls (Mitch Clark and Chris Dawes).
"It does make a difference when you do have a big power forward who goes at the footy."
Roos said Jimmy Toumpas had pulled up fine after taking a high hit from Geelong's Billie Smedts. Smedts was reported for striking in Toumpas in the third quarter of the match.
Melbourne co-captain Nathan Jones gets a handball away despite Jimmy Bartel's tackle. Picture: AFL Media
