GEELONG has turned to forgotten big man Esava Ratugolea to fill the hole left by Jeremy Cameron for Saturday’s final-round clash with West Coast at GMHBA Stadium.
Ratugolea, who hasn’t played at AFL level since suffering an ankle injury against Collingwood in Round 3, is one of three inclusions for the Cats.
Veteran winger Isaac Smith returns after being managed out of last week’s win over Gold Coast, while last week’s medi-sub Mark O’Connor is back in the starting 22.
However, Mitch Duncan will again be sidelined, with the club choosing to manage the experienced half-back again.
Geelong has preferred Mark Blicavs as its ruck option working in tandem with Ratugolea – who has been playing in defence in the VFL – to bringing in Jonathon Ceglar as the replacement for Rhys Stanley (adductor)
Tom Atkins, who has enjoyed a breakout period in the Cats’ midfield, has been managed and is an emergency along with Ceglar, Luke Dahlhaus and Shannon Neale.
West Coast has made four changes.
Former Cat Tim Kelly returns from suspension, while the Eagles have also named Willie Rioli, Jai Culley and Bailey Williams.
Injury will see Andrew Gaff, Nic Naitanui, and Jake Waterman’s season come to a premature end, while Brady Hough is out through illness.
K rock is live from 3:45pm (AEST) on FM 95.5 across Geelong and the Surf Coast.
The stream commences on krock.com.au and then switches to AFL.com.au and the AFL app commences at 3:55pm
Twitter: @tom_king79
AFL ROUND 23
GEELONG (1st) vs. WEST COAST (17th)
GMHBA Stadium
Saturday, August 20, 4:35pm
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