Saturday fifth AFL Round 21 match is between West Coast Eagles and Geelong Cats with the game to be played at Patersons Stadium. The opening bounce is set to commence at 7:40pm local time with away team Geelong Cats currently holding favouritism. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between West Coast Eagles and Geelong Cats.

WHERE AND WHEN: Patersons Stadium, 7:40pm AEST, Saturday 17 August

[iframe_loader width=”690″ height=”530″ src=”https://sportsnews.com.au/afl/match.php?id=3130180″]

Opening odds comparison:

West Coast Eagles	2.55	2.75	2.70	2.75	2.55	2.57
Geelong Cats	1.50	1.45	1.47	1.45	1.50	1.51

Preview:

The West Coast Eagles play Geelong on Saturday night, 7.40pm at Subiaco. In another fairly evenly matched encounter, the Cats look slight but certainly not definite
favourites to take the points. While the second place Cats might seem like winners on paper, however, their form has been scratchy of late and the Eagles will be playing with desperation. There will be a lot of pressure on key West Coast forward Josh Kennedy to perform well this weekend, and if he does, the Eagles might just be able to break Geelong.

Teams:

West Coast Eagles:
B: M.Brown D.Glass P.McGinnity
HB: S.Butler E.Mackenzie As.Smith
C: A.Gaff S.Wellingham B.Dalziell
HF: J.Cripps JJ.Kennedy J.Hill
F: L.Shuey S.Lycett J.Darling
FOLL: D.Cox S.Selwood M.Priddis
I/C: W.Schofield B.Sheppard C.Masten A.Carter
EMG: A.Embley A.Hams M.Rosa
In: Luke Shuey, Adam Carter
Out: Blayne Wilson (omitted), Mark LeCras (ribs)

Geelong Cats:
B: J.Rivers T.Lonergan C.Enright
HB: C.Guthrie H.Taylor J.Bartel
C: A.Christensen J.Selwood J.Kelly
HF: M.Stokes M.Blicavs S.Johnson
F: S.Motlop J.Podsiadly T.Varcoe
FOLL: N.Vardy J.Caddy M.Duncan
I/C: J.Corey A.Mackie J.Murdoch J.Walker

EMG: J.Hunt J.Schroder J.Stringer
In: Jordan Murdoch, Mark Blicavs
Out:  Tom Hawkins (back), Jesse Stringer  (omitted)

Cat Hawkins faces AFL rest with sore back

Geelong star forward Tom Hawkins’ nagging back injury is expected to force him out of Saturday night’s AFL clash with West Coast in Perth.

The Cats’ reigning best and fairest winner has struggled noticeably to bend and run at pace during the past two rounds.

While Geelong had previously maintained that playing with the injury was not aggravating it, coach Chris Scott admitted on Tuesday it was probably time to give Hawkins a rest.

“He was certainly the worst on the weekend that he’s been for a little while,” Scott told the Cats’ website.

“In some respects, things have changed a little bit in the way we’re going to manage Tom.

“It would be unlikely that we would take him to Perth. Travel is a factor but it’s only a slight factor.

“The more important thing is how he is in himself and how he’s handing that back issue.

“I think the probability is that we give him a week off to get over this slight deterioration.”

Until the past two rounds, Hawkins had managed multiple goals in all but one of his previous matches this season.

But he kicked just one goal in each of the past two games, against North Melbourne and Port Adelaide, while taking a combined total of just five marks in those games, also well down on his previous average.

Scott remained confident Hawkins would return to form and fitness by finals time.

He said veteran Paul Chapman, who hasn’t played an AFL game since round four because of hamstring injuries but has impressed in the VFL in the past fortnight, was pushing hard for a senior recall.

That could come as soon as Saturday night.

“The intention is, all going well, to play him before the finals. But there’s a few things he needs to tick off before that happens,” Scott said.