Champion defender Corey Enright has been ruled out of Geelong’s AFL preliminary final against Hawthorn after failing to recover from a knee injury.
Enright, who was named in his fifth All-Australian team on Monday, was always considered a long shot to recover in time to take on the Hawks.
He damaged the knee in the qualifying final loss to Fremantle and missed last weekend’s semi-final win over Port Adelaide.
Enright, 32, was unable to train on Wednesday, prompting Cats football manager Neil Balme to rule him out of Friday night’s big clash at the MCG.
“He’s come in pretty well this week, but we won’t be playing him this week,” Balme said.
Enright remains in contention to return to the Cats’ line-up for the grand final, if they are able to claim a 12th straight victory over the Hawks.
Geelong will need to make at least one change to their team for the preliminary final after forward Paul Chapman accepted a one-match suspension.