Geelong coach Chris Scott says they’ve been considering an AFL debut for Lawson Humphries for “quite a few weeks”.
The 21-year-old, who the Cats selected with pick 63 in last year’s National Draft from WAFL club Swan Districts, will get his chance in tomorrow (Saturday) night’s crucial clash with Essendon at the MCG.
Scott says Humphries “caught our eye” from early in the pre-season.
“My interpretation of Lawson – especially given where he was picked – was that there was quite a bit of development still left in him,” Scott said.
“I must say, I spent a bit of time trying to work out where his flaws were early on; he looked pretty accomplished right from the start.
“But, he’s fitted into our system well. He’s a really smart young footballer who uses the ball well (and is a) good decision-maker.
“I guess the learning curve for every young player is coming into a team they’ve never played in before and getting a feel for his teammates.
“I’m sure he won’t have any trouble with our system structurally; he’s led that as well as anyone at VFL level.”
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Humphries is one of three inclusions for Geelong.
Midfielder Mitch Knevitt, who has spent less than a minute on the ground at AFL level this year, and young forward Shannon Neale have also been named.
Neale will fill the key forward role made vacant by Tom Hawkins’ foot injury.
However, Scott has played down suggestions Neale will get an extended run in the team as a result.
“I think we’ve got to be careful that we don’t assume anything at the moment,” he said.
“Clearly, we’re not playing our best football, and we need to find something.
“So, I don’t think we’ll be locked into assumptions that players will get a really long run at things.
“We’ve got to continue to pick what we think is the best team for the moment.
“Shannon does have an advantage over some because we’re optimistic about the player he can become.”
Ollie Henry won’t play, with Geelong taking a conservative approach with a non-specific injury.
“(He) had a little bit of soreness that, as much as anything, led us to be a bit concerned around pushing him,” Scott said.
“So, we made that call yesterday (Thursday) that he wouldn’t play fully in the knowledge that that might be a little bit of a premature call.
“There is a chance we’ve taken him out of a game that he otherwise could have played.
“But, as is our policy, we tend to be conservative with these things, and we wanted to set him up to be really good to play well next week.
“He’s just had a period where he’s missed a bit of training, and even the best players can suffer from a lack of confidence in their body when they haven’t been able to put consecutive sessions together.”
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