Finals return for Geelong star looking ‘positive’
Oliver Caffrey |
Geelong star Max Holmes is firming to return for an elimination final bout with Carlton, Cats coach Chris Scott admitting the midfielder looked good enough to play last week.
Holmes hasn’t played since fracturing an ankle and needing syndesmosis surgery in round 19.
But the 24-year-old has been training strongly and is again expected to push his case during a main session at GMHBA Stadium on Tuesday.
Holmes ran freely during the brief time when media were allowed to watch training.
“He trained last Thursday and he looked pretty good to my eye,” Scott said of Holmes.
“If you put it in the really old school, back when I started playing, he might have played last week because you watched him run around Thursday and go ‘OK, well he can do it’.
“I just think we’ve shifted a little bit philosophically from those days.
“It’s getting to the point where he just keeps doing what has been asked of him.”
Missing out on a double chance, Geelong don’t have the luxury of giving Holmes another week off to be certain he is right to play.
Holmes would give the Cats’ midfield a giant boost coming up against an in-form Blues set-up featuring the likes of young gun Jagga Smith, Sam Walsh and Patrick Cripps.
“I’m thinking hard without having come to a conclusion yet,” Scott said of the Holmes decision.
“But that’ll obviously be a team decision as well, led in large part by Max.”
If Holmes plays, the Cats will virtually be at full-strength after Scott declared small forward Oli Wiltshire right to return from a foot injury.
Geelong still had the pre-finals bye and avoided the historic wildcard round, which 10th-placed Carlton were forced into and beat Melbourne last Saturday night.
“I’d prefer to finish top four, win the first week, miss a bit of footy … but this is this is a close second,” Scott said.
“Carlton is so hot right now, they finished 10th, and that’s less an indication of their season.
“More that half the competition, on their day, have a really good chance of beating anyone.”
The Blues will enter Friday night’s match at the MCG having won 11 of their last 14 matches since Josh Fraser took over as coach.
Carlton also have the recent edge over the Cats, winning four of their past five battles, including a thriller in round 12.
“When we analyse it, we’re not thinking they’ve (Carlton) won X amount of games, which means they’re playing really well,” Scott said.
“We’ve looked at the way they’ve shifted their game … I looked at their team a long time ago, before they started winning, and thought you have to respect their talent.
“We think there are a few reasons why they’ve been strong against us and those are probably even more magnified now that they’re playing better as a team.
“We’re not looking at when we played them in 2023 … the last one’s pretty relevant because it was a close game.
“They’re playing better now, but so are we.”
AAP