Joel Selwood opens up on Patrick Dangerfield’s future

Dangerfield will become just the fifth person to play 150 games for two different clubs this week as he leads the Cats against Collingwood.

While the Brownlow medalist has shown some signs of wear and tear in recent years – playing 16 games in 2021 and 18 in 2022, his two lowest tallys since his debut season in the league – Selwood supported the medalist Gary Ayres until he was 36 years old was .

The former Adelaide midfielder has played 303 games and four more full seasons could put him in the rare company of 400 games for a club with just five members.

“I think he might have four[years]left, but I hope he has four left because I want to get back to football and see the Cats win,” Selwood told SEN.

“He has the ability to play across the floor in a lot of positions – I probably wouldn’t put him back because he hasn’t been cast since he arrived at the Footy Club – but we continue to hope he can be there for a long time.”

Selwood stated that Dangerfield was an “extraordinary” captain and “could have held the role for a long time”.

“It was important that we could get the most out of his football career without having to worry about the extra things you have to do, but he’ll handle all those things well,” Selwood said.

Selwood will juggle a role on Geelong’s commercial team with a gig leading Melbourne Storm’s management structure.

He said he has been in talks with Australian male cricket coach Andrew McDonald about joining the team during the upcoming Ashes series but has not yet committed to a role.

Selwood will take Cats fans on a stroll from Flinders Street Station to MCG before Geelong take on Collingwood on Friday night before taking a lap of honor with the Premiership flag from 7.15pm.

Hawkins set for the Collingwood blockbuster

A “torping month” means Geelong superstar Tom Hawkins will face Collingwood in Friday’s opening round blockbuster, but his veteran teammate Mitch Duncan is not sighted in the early rounds.

Recruit Jack Bowes will also miss the MCG blockbuster, as fellow new faces Tanner Bruhn and Ollie Henry will make their Cats debuts.

Hawkins, who was written off in some quarters, was due to play off-season a month ago after foot surgery, according to coach Chris Scott, and only improved his chances as preparation came to an end.

“He’s going to play,” Scott said Thursday.

“That was my suspicion probably about a month ago and he’s had a torrid month.

“We don’t necessarily expect him to be as good in Round 1 as he will be throughout the year but he is ready and really good enough to play and the last month has given us a lot of confidence.”

A calf problem that emerged late in the summer months saw Duncan recently fly to Adelaide for treatment and the cats will hold him back for the first few weeks to keep a long-term eye on his season.

Scott said the cautious approach to Duncan reminded him of the way the club treated Patrick Dangerfield at the start of last season before the champion won the Garry Ayres medal as the best player in the finals series.

“Mitch Duncan could probably play too, but he’s different from Hawkins in that he’s more of a 15-16k (runner in a game) that’s a little bit different (than Hawkins),” Scott said.

Bowes sat out Geelong’s official training game against Brisbane with calf pain and will not make his club debut in Round 1, but Scott declared the former Gold Coast player

“He really had a flawless preseason to the point where he just had a little calf problem,” Scott said.

“We’re confident he could have played this week too, so much so that he will definitely play next week.”

How Esava adjusted for a big year after passing the exam

Born-again Geelong defender Esava Ratugolea has already passed one of football’s biggest tests before the season has even started. Star teammate Jeremy Cameron declared him “really difficult to play”.

The athletic Ratugolea was first flipped from his forward role to defense in the back half of last season, performing well in Round 23 in a one-off appearance at the AFL level against West Coast.

Since then he has spent the entire preseason in the background and looks set to face Collingwood on Friday night after two strong practice games.

Geelong’s forwards have noted over the summer how difficult it is to keep up with Ratugolea, given his size and athleticism, and all-Australian Cameron has had to work hard to get a kick out of the game simulation.

“He was really difficult to play with, he faced him a couple of times in preseason, he was really difficult,” Cameron said.

“We know how big he is, he loves to fly in the footy and he supports himself. He’s really focused on marking the footy, that’s one of the harder things when you’re playing as a backman, but he loves to fly on it.

On the other end, before the youngster’s first game against old club Collingwood, Cameron proclaimed recruit Ollie Henry “a really exciting player”.

“He loves jumping on the ball and he’s not scared in the air, which is different and really excelled in the preseason,” Cameron said.

The Cats appeared for a main practice session on Tuesday after Mitch Duncan returned from his stay in Adelaide.

He started the session by running away from the group while working on a sore calf.

Midfielder Sam Menegola watched the start of training from the bench after recently undergoing knee surgery with both knees strapped.

Meanwhile, Cam Guthrie has ditched his signature dreadlocks for a short back-and-side look.

Jez open to leaving Collingwood Blockbuster at halftime

Ace goalscorer Jeremy Cameron says he’s open to abandoning Geelong’s opening-round blockbuster against Collingwood at half-time when he learns his partner Indi is in labour.

The superstar striker is no clearer on knowing if he will retire from Friday’s game, having been clear to the club throughout preseason that he would not play if the game collided with the birth of his first child .

Cameron said he was in a “waiting game” just days before the Magpies meeting.

“I’ve been pretty clear with the club and we’ve talked about it quite a bit and if something like that (labor) happens I can’t play,” he said Tuesday morning.

“But I like going to the game and it all looks normal (at the moment).

“Right now it’s totally normal and it’s a waiting game. That’s the hard part, you never know when it’s coming. I’ll just prepare and play and put the shoes on.

“If the call comes at halftime, then that’s a decision that has to be made then.”

Cameron was the key figure in Geelong’s two thrilling victories against Collingwood last year, with the left foot being best on the ground in both games, including a vibrant qualifying final.

The door remains open for Geelong to miss his two spearheads while veteran Tom Hawkins is still racing the clock to recover from foot surgery by Friday night.

Cameron said he wasn’t sure his running mate would compete alongside him against Collingwood.

“I didn’t really talk to the coaches about it that much,” he said.

“Tom’s training really well and hopefully we’re both out there, but if not – I’m sure they’ve been watching it a few times over the week.

“We have some backmen who can move forward, we have new people coming in and we have people who play different roles coming in.

“Hopefully it doesn’t play out that way (where Hawkins is absent), but if it does, it’ll be a slightly different looking forward line.”

Ahead of Geelong’s first game of the season, Cameron said his Cats are “definitely not lacking in motivation” as they prepare to defend their Premier League.

josh.barnes1@news.com.au

Originally posted as All the news from the Geelong camp ahead of the opening round blockbuster