Almost a year after breaking Western Bulldogs hearts, Geelong forward Gary Rohan is set to return from injury against Luke Beveridge's side.
Rohan famously slotted a goal after-the-siren to secure a five-point win for the Cats against the Bulldogs last June.
It was the second time he had kicked a match-winning AFL buzzer-beater after helping his former club Sydney defeat Essendon in 2017.
After playing his first AFL game of 2022 in Geelong's round 10 win against Port Adelaide, Rohan missed last week's comfortable victory over Adelaide due to a hamstring injury.
The 30-year-old has struggled with back and hip issues since the end of last season and the Cats were careful not to rush him back into the star-studded forward line with Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said Rohan and ruckman Rhys Stanley were pushing hard to face the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Stanley has missed the last two games with an ankle injury as the versatile Mark Blicavs has been forced to shoulder the ruck load.
But the Cats' long injury-list will likely not shorten dramatically for another two weeks as superstar Patrick Dangerfield, ruckman Jon Ceglar, defender Jack Henry and Sam Menegola remain on the sidelines.
"I think Gary Rohan will play, I think there's a bit more certainty around that," Scott said on Wednesday.
"Those two (Rohan and Stanley) are likely but really the bulk of the guys missing at the moment will be a post-bye proposition.
"We just need to think through exactly how we reintroduce those guys.
"Quite a few of them would be OK to play next week, when we have a bye, so they'll be jumping out of their skins.
"The quandary for us having five, six guys available and bringing them all back at once does present a challenge for cohesion."
Even with 13 players on the injury list, Geelong have moved to 7-4 as they push for their fourth-straight top-four finish.
