Geelong defender Tom Stewart and Adelaide forward Mitch McGovern were both set for tests this week to determine their availability for Friday night's preliminary final at Adelaide Oval.
The Cats said on Sunday that scans showed Stewart hadn't suffered a major injury after he was sidelined with hamstring tightness during the final quarter of Friday night's semi-final win over Sydney at the MCG. However the mature-age recruit faces a fitness test later in the week ahead of the clash with the Crows.
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AFL plays of the finals: week 02
Geelong look likely to make at least one change to the team that beat the Swans though, with veteran defender Tom Lonergan poised to return from a bout of food poisoning. He was replaced in the side by Rhys Stanley, who played forward after swingman Harry Taylor was sent back to defence to handle Lance Franklin in Lonergan's absence.
Exciting youngster Nakia Cockatoo is also firming to return to the side despite playing just one game since round 13, having been plagued by persistent hamstring issues this year. The fit Cats who didn't play on Friday night trained on Saturday, with Cockatoo understood to have pulled up well following the session.
Midfielder Cameron Guthrie remains in significant doubt for the Crows game though, facing a race against time to return from a calf strain that kept him out of the Sydney clash.
The Crows released a short statement regarding McGovern on Sunday, saying that he would be assessed after reporting soreness in his hamstring. The West Australian - who recently resisted overtures from his home state to sign a contract extension with Adelaide until the end of 2020 - has played 13 games this year, taking his tally with the club to 36. He has kicked 20 goals this year, following 32 in his debut season in 2016.
The Crows are expected to regain star midfielder Rory Sloane from appendix surgery for Friday night's date with the Cats, but have lost rebounding defender Brodie Smith to a serious knee injury suffered in their qualifying final win over Greater Western Sydney.
Widely written-off after their qualifying final loss to Richmond, the Cats bounced back in stunning fashion to topple the Swans, who had entered the game having won 15 of their last 17 matches. Defender Lachie Henderson echoed the sentiments of captain Joel Selwood in praising the club's coaching staff's work to ensure Geelong didn't crash to another straight sets finals exit.
"Kudos to the coaches and the club. We sort of came in and moved on pretty quick, just focused on a couple of key areas we needed to move forward to, to try and beat the Swans," Henderson said.
"We moved on pretty quick and tried to stay upbeat. We've done a lot of hard work to get ourselves into second and give us the double chance so we had to stay positive.
"We had a really bad week last week and Richmond came out and played much better than us, so credit to them, but we came back this week."
Geelong are on the verge of their first grand final since 2011, but Henderson rejected a suggestion the Cats would be spurred on by their preliminary final loss to the Swans last year.
"No, not really. We stay in the moment a lot. That was last year. It's a long time ago."
Henderson was reluctant to buy into the potential selection dilemmas facing the club this week, but agreed that "it's good for the club really to have those quandaries."
The Crows and Cats have only met once before in a final, with Adelaide edging Geelong in a semi-final en route to their maiden flag in 1997. That game at Football Park is arguably best remembered for a contested mark not paid to Cat Leigh Colbert with the match in the balance.
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