Geelong’s Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield is set to return as coach Chris Scott forecasts extra conservative damage administration at his AFL membership.
Dangerfield hasn’t performed since hurting a calf muscle on Might 21 however Scott expects his star participant to be again for Saturday’s conflict towards Richmond.
“We think so,” Scott instructed reporters on Wednesday.
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“We’d like to see this (training) session today especially but our plan has been pretty conservative in terms of the injury management, getting enough work into Patrick which he was denied earlier in the year.
“Each indication is that he’ll be able to go.
“But I must say that over the next whatever it is, eight or nine weeks to finish off the year, that we won’t hesitate with any of our players to play it a bit more conservatively if that is what the data is telling us.
“It is thrilling that it seems as if (Richmond star) Dustin Martin is again and Patrick Dangerfield is again, I hope they get to play on one another a bit.”
Scott said veteran Shaun Higgins, who hasn’t been sighted at AFL level since round seven, would play in state league ranks this weekend while downplaying the significance of a recent heavy training load at the Cats.
After last week’s away win against West Coast, Scott said the club had increased training workloads entering that fixture and over the preceding bye weekend.
But on Wednesday, Scott said of the heavier training block: “I believe if it has been spoken about a lot in any respect, it is a little bit overblown.
“It hasn’t been a departure from what we have been doing in previous years,” he mentioned.
“There’s always a balance for us …we certainly won’t have any excuses going into this game.
“We expect our preparation has been good for the long term for the couple of months to return, however by this week we predict we’re primed to play nicely.”
