Geelong captain Joel Selwood remains upbeat about his prospects of a round-one return to the AFL as he recovers from a foot injury.

Plantar fasciitis has meant the star Cats midfielder has not played any pre-season matches, putting him in some doubt for the Easter Monday blockbuster against fierce rivals Hawthorn.

Selwood will have a VFL hitout against Richmond on Friday and he hopes that will be enough to put him into the team for the opening round.

“I will pull up well from that, I hope, and be ready for round one,” he told RSN927.

But Selwood remains unsure when his younger brother Scott will be ready for a return to football.

The West Coast recruit has already ruled himself out of the first few rounds because of off-season ankle surgery.

The Cats captain said the main thing was his brother does not try to return too quickly.

“It’s really hard to know – he’ll start back some running next week and he just understands he has to play when he’s really right,” Joel said.

“He hasn’t done that the last couple of years.

“He’s probably tried to push himself along a bit quicker than his body was asking him.”

Meanwhile, Joel said he was a fan of the AFL restricting interchange rotations to 90 per game.

Sides experimented with the rule during the pre-season and it will be in force this season.

Selwood said the benefits would become apparent later in matches.

“We’re going to see the better players play well,” he said.

“It might take a bit of sting, speed out of the game.

“We’ll see the skill come into its own element.”