North’s Lachlan Hansen may have pulled off a miraculous recovery from a back injury after being surprisingly named in the side to play against Geelong on Saturday.
The forward careered into advertising signage at Etihad Stadium after kicking a goal in his side’s win over Port Adelaide last week and was taken from the field on stretcher and rushed to hospital.
The forward careered into advertising signage at Etihad Stadium after kicking a goal in his side’s win over Port Adelaide last week and was taken from the field on stretcher and rushed to hospital.
The club received good news after scans cleared him of any serious damage but few expected him to be healthy enough to play the Cats at Skilled Stadium.
It’s expected Hansen will be put through a thorough fitness test at training on Friday morning at Aegis Park before he is given the green light to line up for round 7.
Waiting in the wings are Cam Pedersen and Aaron Edwards who have been named as emergencies for the clash. One will be lucky enough to be activated should Hansen be prevented from playing.
Pedersen has been a mainstay on the emergency list since making his debut for the Kangaroos in round one against West Coast while Edwards was dropped from the side that lost to Fremantle.
Joining them on the sidelines is midfielder Cruize Garlett who spent a week at VFL level with North Ballarat and collected an impressive 37 touches.
If Hansen is passed fit, the side will go in unchanged after its solid 60 point breakthrough victory.
North Melbourne
Backs B.Rawlings 3 N.Grima 17 S.Thompson 16
Half Backs D.Pratt 30 M.Firrito 11 J.MacMillan 34
Centreline B.Speight 46 B.Harvey 29 S.Wright 19
Half Forwards S.McMahon 42 L.Hansen 6 L.Thomas 12
Forwards K.Harper 23 D.Petrie 20 J.Ziebell 7
Followers T.Goldstein 22 A.Swallow 9 D.Wells 8
Interchange L.Adams 13 S.Atley 18 L.Anthony 4 B.Cunnington 10
Emergencies C.Garlett 32 A.Edwards 27 C.Pedersen 39
Geelong
Backs J.Hunt 8 M.Scarlett 30 T.Lonergan 13
Half Backs C.Enright 44 H.Taylor 7 J.Kelly 9
Centreline A.Mackie 4 J.Corey 11 M.Stokes 27
Half Forwards J.Bartel 3 C.Mooney 21 D.Menzel 10
Forwards P.Chapman 35 J.Podsiadly 31 M.Duncan 22
Followers B.Ottens 6 T.Varcoe 5 J.Selwood 14
Interchange S.Johnson 20 D.Milburn 39 D.Wojcinski 40 T.Hawkins 26
Emergencies A.Christensen 28 J.Cowan 18 N.Vardy 36
In: J.Hunt , C.Mooney
Out: C.Ling (Hamstring) , T.Hunt (Knee)
