GEELONG has suffered a blow to its tall stocks, with Sam De Koning a late withdrawal for Friday night’s clash with Melbourne.
De Koning has pulled out due to illness, with forward Ollie Henry his replacement. Henry himself had been managed out of the side when teams were named on Thursday.
Melbourne is unchanged.
The Demons can put the undermanned Cats out of top-six contention when the sides meet in the first of two games on Friday night, with Fremantle and West Coast also in action in the Western Derby at Optus Stadium.
The Demons (12-6) return to a primetime stage with high hopes of claiming a top-four spot on the back of five wins in their past six matches after overrunning North Melbourne last week.
The Dees can turn to a flawless record at the MCG with nine wins from as many matches at the venue this season, although percentage remains a concern in their push for a double chance.
Geelong (10-8) revived its hopes of a top-six finish as it outclassed St Kilda to seal just its second victory in seven matches last week, but paid a huge price with midfielder Max Holmes injured in the win.
The Cats have a mounting injury list to manage on the run home but with three matches to come against bottom-six sides, the clash with the Demons looms as critical to their hopes of avoiding the wildcard spots.
Melbourne has made five changes with Lukas Cooke, Harrison Petty, Tom McDonald, Bailey Laurie and Paddy Cross in for the injured Caleb Windsor, Changkuoth Jiath and Daniel Turner, and dropped pair Jake Melksham and Max Heath.
Fremantle (16-2) continued on its merry way as it blew away a spirited Port Adelaide with five goals in 10 minutes after the main break, before cruising to another commanding come-from-behind win.
The Dockers are showing few very flaws, although coach Justin Longmuir will be wary of giving the Eagles a start in the Western Derby after his side has trailed at half-time in four of their past five matches.
West Coast (4-14) took further steps forward as it gave two-time reigning premier Brisbane a scare before falling to a gallant defeat on home soil.
The Eagles have been more competitive in their past seven matches as hosts since being thumped by the Dockers in April. That defeat extended their horror streak to nine losses by an average 46 points in the past 10 Western derbies.
The Dockers are without Hayden Young, as well as Brennan Cox and Jaeger O’Meara, with Corey Wagner, Shai Bolton and Oscar McDonald coming into their side.
The Eagles have made three changes with Ryan Maric, Sandy Brock and Harvey Johnston replacing Liam Baker, Jack Hutchinson and Jack Graham.
