GEELONG coach Chris Scott is optimistic Tyson Stengle's return to football isn't far away, declaring the 27-year-old's absence won't end up being a long-term thing.
Stengle took an extended Christmas break citing personal reasons but returned to training in late January and is in the process of building back up.
The 2022 All-Australian will make his return to VFL ranks when he is deemed fully fit, and while Scott is not searching for any timelines, he is optimistic it's not too far away.
"The feel I get is that it's sooner rather than later," Scott said on Friday.
"All we could say with certainty is it's not going to be a long-term thing.
"To me he's in pretty good shape. He always looks sharp when the footy is near him and he looks that way to me, so that's a good sign."
Stengle has averaged 40 goals a season since arriving at Geelong four years ago, and his early-season absence leaves a massive void in attack.
Scott's immediate concern is ensuring last week's flop against Gold Coast is just a one-off occurrence.
Geelong trailed by 79 points at three-quarter time on the way to the 56-point defeat, and the pressure is on to turn it around in Saturday's clash with Fremantle at GMHBA Stadium.
"Often when you get beaten badly, it looks like the opposition run better than you do and it looks like they're stronger, and my experience sort of tells me that it can often be a temporary thing," Scott said.
"We've had patches in seasons where we've been going really well and then had a bad day, and all of a sudden you look slow and aren't covering the ground and look a bit poor in the contest.
"And it turns out to be a temporary thing. I'm optimistic that's the case here too."
The return of skipper Patrick Dangerfield and star forward Jeremy Cameron is a timely boost for Geelong, while Scott has handed a debut to 206cm ruckman Mitch Edwards.
Edwards, 20, will combine forces with Mark Blicavs to take on Fremantle's dominant ruck pairing of Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson.
Fremantle's star-studded squad is being backed to make the top four this season, and Scott labelled the Dockers as formidable.
The Dockers will be without Michael Frederick (ankle) for at least a month, while Brennan Cox (calf) is also absent and All-Australian defender Luke Ryan was surprisingly overlooked despite recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.
Former Demons defender Judd McVee will make his Dockers debut as Fremantle attempts to implement a faster style of play this year.