EXPERIENCED Geelong pair Gary Rohan and Rhys Stanley are pushing to be available for Friday night's clash against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.
Rohan was a late withdrawal ahead of Saturday's win over Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium due to hamstring tightness, while Stanley has missed three of the past four games after suffering an ankle injury late in the loss to Fremantle in round seven.
The pair trained over the weekend under the guidance of medical and conditioning services boss Harry Taylor and will need to pass fitness tests at Wednesday morning's main training session to be cleared to face the Dogs.
Rohan has endured an interrupted year to date, dealing with sciatica issues in his back and hip across the summer that prevented him from banking a decent training block during the pre-season.
The 30-year-old was put through a mini pre-season before he returned against Port Adelaide in round 10 after playing two VFL games around a week off.
Rohan pulled up with tightness following his return game with the club opting to take a conservative approach with the forward after naming him on Thursday, opening the door for Shannon Neale to make his debut against the Crows.
Small forward Tyson Stengle has emerged as a bargain recruit in the absence of Rohan, kicking 23 goals from the first 11 games of the season to stake his claim for recruit of the year. Brisbane star Charlie Cameron is the only small forward to kick more goals than the former Crow and Tiger.
Stanley has been dealing with an ankle injury for the past month, missing the past fortnight after re-injuring his ankle against St Kilda in round nine.
Geelong coach Chris Scott, who the club quietly revealed last Friday night had signed a two-year contract extension, has been forced to use tall utility Mark Blicavs in the ruck a lot more than usual across the past month, due to the unavailability of Esava Ratugolea, Jon Ceglar and Stanley.
Blicavs amassed 31 hitouts – the equal third-highest count of his 214-game career – last Saturday, but his opponent Reilly O'Brien made a strong return after a stint in the SANFL, registering 46 hitouts, 28 disposals and nine clearances to help Matthew Nicks' side win the clearance count.
The Western Bulldogs have returned to form in recent weeks, banking three consecutive wins against West Coast, Gold Coast and Collingwood to jump into the top eight at 6-5.
MEDICAL ROOM Check out the full injury list
Star ruckman Tim English dominated in Perth last Saturday night in his first game in a month and is the No. 1 rated ruckman in the game across the first 11 rounds, according to Champion Data, and looms as a major threat for Geelong.
Gun defender Jack Henry hasn’t played a game since injuring his foot against Hawthorn on Easter Monday and won't return this weekend.
The Cats expect the 23-year-old to be available for selection after the bye, after gradually building his workload back up after hurting the same foot he has surgery on in January.
