GEELONG has made a third late change prior to its clash with St Kilda, with Patrick Dangerfield pulled from the side at the 11th hour with calf tightness.
Dangerfield was seen warming up but came from the field early, while the rest of his teammates completed the pre-game warm-ups.
The 2016 Brownlow medallist also missed four games earlier in the season with a calf injury he sustained against Port Adelaide back in round 10.
Dangerfield told Channel Seven pre-game that the tightness is in the same spot in his calf he had already injured, with a "mature decision" then made surrounding whether he should play given the Cats are only weeks away from finals.
Geelong v St Kilda at GMHBA Stadium, 7.25pm AEST
LATE CHANGES
Geelong: Patrick Dangerfield (calf), Mark Blicavs (managed) and Jonathon Ceglar replaced in selected side by Luke Dahlhaus, Sam Menegola and Zach Tuohy
St Kilda: Nil
MEDICAL SUBS
Geelong: Jonathon Ceglar
St Kilda: Zak Jones
"It just got a bit tight," he said.
"And then given the last time I re-aggravated my calf and to be honest I didn't trust myself to make that right decision so close to game time. This time of the year, I suppose, given the situation that we are in, the conservative route is the best path forward.
"It had been tight during the week even though I trained fully. I was confident in that regard. Just a bit on [deceleration] tonight it just didn't quite feel right."
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Dangerfield was replaced in the selected side by Luke Dahlhaus, who plays his first game since round 14.
Dangerfield joins Mark Blicavs (managed) and Jonathon Ceglar (medical sub) as the three late withdrawals from the selected side on Thursday evening.
Zach Tuohy and Sam Menegola also gained late reprieves earlier in the night.
St Kilda has gone in unchanged from the side selected on Thursday evening, with Zak Jones named as its medical sub.
Port Adelaide v Richmond at Adelaide Oval, 7.10pm ACST
NO LATE CHANGES
MEDICAL SUBS
Port Adelaide: Riley Bonner
Richmond: Jason Castagna
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Western Bulldogs v Fremantle at Marvel Stadium, 4.35pm AEST
NO LATE CHANGES
MEDICAL SUBS
Western Bulldogs: Toby McLean
Fremantle: Liam Henry
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Greater Western Sydney v Essendon at Giants Stadium, 2.10pm AEST
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MEDICAL SUBS
Greater Western Sydney: Tanner Bruhn
Essendon: Massimo D'Ambrosio
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Hawthorn v Gold Coast at UTAS Stadium, 1.45pm AEST
NO LATE CHANGES
MEDICAL SUBS
Hawthorn: James Blanck
Gold Coast: Rory Atkins
HAWKS v SUNS Full match coverage and stats
