Mitch Duncan is one of several senior Geelong stars who have been ruled out of the AFL round-one clash with Essendon as exciting recruit Tyson Stengle prepares to make his Cats debut.
Duncan has been battling a calf injury and will sit out Saturday's MCG contest, along with Sam Menegola (knee), Gryan Miers (ankle), Mark O'Connor (knee) and Jed Bews (concussion).
"We're going to hold Mitch back and that was a difficult decision for us because Mitch has been moving well the last couple of weeks," Cats coach Chris Scott said.
"But we're going to play the long game with a few of our really good players this week.
"Mitch is part of a group that are all short-term (prospects), we expect to have them back really soon, but we're going to be more conservative with them going into the season."
Miers' absence, coupled with Gary Rohan's ongoing recovery from back and hip issues, has opened the door for Stengle.
The 23-year-old former Richmond and Adelaide small forward produced an eye-catching performance in a practice match against the Tigers last month, kicking four goals.
Stengle's selection marks a huge turnaround after he was axed by the Crows following a string of off-field incidents and overlooked in last year's mid-season draft.
"He's a great story," Scott said.
"AFL footy generally does a great job of providing second chances for players and people, and he hasn't put a foot wrong this pre-season.
"We didn't bring him in on a guarantee that he would be in our team.
"He had to train and play and perform his way into our 22 for round one and he's done that really well."
Scott confirmed last year's best-and-fairest Tom Stewart and runner-up Jack Henry will line up in defence against Essendon alongside 21-year-old Sam De Koning, who will play his second game.
