AFL ruck depth a strength for Geelong

A knee injury to Dawson Simpson has once again shown the value of Geelong's ruck depth this AFL season.

AFL ruck depth a strength for Geelong

Geelong ruckman Dawson Simpson suffered a season-ending knee injury in Saturday's AFL match.

Geelong's stockpile of big men has paid off big-time this year.

But coach Chris Scott says it doesn't mean the Cats' decision to load up on ruckmen is necessarily a move that that would - or should - be followed by their AFL rivals.

Dawson Simpson's luckless run continued in Saturday night's drubbing of St Kilda, the 206cm giant going down with what was almost certainly a season-ending knee injury.

In Simpson's absence, Nathan Vardy - who has also endured far more than his share of injuries in an AFL career limited to 14 games - stepped into the ruck breach with aplomb in the 101-point drubbing of the Saints.

Scott believes the mobile Vardy offers the Cats at least as much as a key forward option as he does as a ruckman.

After being rested last weekend, former steeplechaser Mark Blicavs - whose remarkable improvement has been one of the stories of 2013 - is likely to return in Simpson's place against North Melbourne on Friday night.

Rookie-listed Josh Walker and 2011 premiership ruckmen Trent West are also in the mix, although former North Melbourne star Hamish McIntosh remains a long shot to see any action in 2013 after battling a string of knee and ankle problems.

A similar litany of injuries to ruckmen would have cruelled the hopes of most other AFL clubs.

But not the Cats.

"Every club is different," Scott said on Tuesday.

"The decision we made was largely on the back of the uncertainty we had around Dawson with his back and Nathan Vardy with a serious hip injury.

"And we didn't really envisage Mark Blicavs developing to the point where he's a capable AFL ruckman.

"There were extenuating circumstances towards having so many ruckmen on our list and we look back now and say that was probably a good decision, but I think it's a little arrogant to say we've proved to the competition that that's the right way to go."

Defender Josh Hunt will return from a shin injury against the Kangaroos on Friday night, while forward Allen Christensen is in contention for a senior recall after missing three weeks with a hamstring complaint.


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Source: AAP


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