GEELONG coach Chris Scott is back at the club following the tragic death of his younger brother Ben.

Scott and his twin brother Brad, North Melbourne's senior coach, were devastated when their 37-year-old brother died of anaphylactic shock due to an unusual nut allergy.

The Cats' mentor returned to work last week after taking compassionate leave in November.

"It is good, he's back at training now, and it was good for him to have some time away, to freshen up and to look after himself,” skipper Joel Selwood told News Corp. 

"It's hard in this game to sometimes find that time and we were able to give that to him and I think he really respected that."

Meanwhile, Selwood is relishing an uninterrupted pre-season after battling plantar fasciitis last summer.

"It's good to be out there with the boys," he said. "Now it's just about making sure the body's right, getting through each session and doing well.

"I'm feeling good at the moment. Most of the group are. We get Hawk (Tom Hawkins) back this week (after the birth of his first child) and a couple of others will come back over the next couple of weeks.

"We've had a couple of tough days during the week — Wednesday and Friday — which was good … so the boys are as good as what we want them to be at this time of the year.

"But we've got some work to do before we get to the first pre-season game."

The Cats kick off their JLT Community Series campaign against arch rivals Hawthorn in Launceston on February 17.