Corey Enright is no certainty to return this weekend for Geelong, with Cats coach Chris Scott indicating that the six-time all-Australian was yet to fully recover from an ankle injury sustained in round two.
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Enright missed Geelong's victory over Collingwood on Saturday night as a result of the setback, and Scott said the backman's availability for this weekend's game against West Coast would be determined closer to game time.
“It’s one of those tough ones where it’s hard to give an update on where he is at,” Scott said on Tuesday.
“Obviously, he is better than what he was on the weekend and he was quite close to playing so that’s a good sign.
“Our medicos have been pretty clear that this is the type of injury that can get pretty good pretty quickly, but the last 10 per cent can take a long time.
“I hesitate to be to be too emphatic about his position.”
Elsewhere on the Cats' injury front, Scott revealed that midfielder Allen Christensen was back running following an operation on his back during the pre-season.
Scott emphasised however that Christensen was a longer-term proposition.
“(It’s) slow jogging. He is still a long way away,” Scott admitted.
“It’s an important milestone for him to get back to running.”
Having debuted in 2011, 22-year-old Christensen has developed into a pivotal member of the Geelong on-ball brigade, playing 57 games in the past three seasons and winning a premiership in his first season.
Unbeaten so far in 2014, Geelong has the luxury of carefully managing the return dates of injured players, and Scott made it clear that a risk-averse policy would be implemented in easing Christensen and fellow sidelined Cats Steven Motlop (knee), Shane Kersten (knee), Billie Smedts (leg) and the forgotten Josh Cowan (hamstring) back into the team.
“As is the case with Steve Motlop, Josh Cowan, and Billie Smedts to an extent, we are going to be really careful that the progression with them is cautious and, most importantly, really thoroughly worked through,” Scott said.
“They have the potential short-term to really give us some spark through the middle part of this season. [However it's] even more important that they are crucial long-term players for us.
“We have gone down a conservative route to make sure they are right for the rest of their career. It would be crazy for us to push them along to save one or two weeks.”
There was praise from Scott for elevated rookie Jackson Sheringham, with the coach commending the mature-age recruit for his showing against the Magpies in his first AFL game for more than 18 months.
“We have got some pretty good players who have been in our team and some pretty good players who have been on the edge.
“We are really happy with the job Jackson Sheringham did on the weekend.”
Scott hinted that tagger Taylor Hunt was not certain to play against the Eagles despite having now served his one-match suspension for a high bump on the Brisbane Lions' Daniel Rich.
