Geelong premiership midfielder Cam Guthrie has copped another setback on his long journey back to the top, after suffering a suspected quad injury in the opening seconds of the Cats' practice match against Carlton on Thursday.
The Cats confirmed Guthrie would take no further part in their 17-point win at IKON Park, citing "precautionary" reasons after he dropped to the turf after the opening bounce.
Guthrie has not played a senior match since round six of 2023, struggling to overcome a toe injury.
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A year earlier, he was a 2022 premiership player and Geelong's Carji Greeves medallist alongside Jeremy Cameron.
In the opening minute on Thursday, Guthrie limped off the field and headed straight to the rooms with assistance from a trainer.
He came crashing to the ground after attempting to kick following the first centre bounce of the game. He abruptly pulled up, appearing to grab his upper right leg.
It was a frustrating 2023 for Guthrie, unable to find his groove to return to the senior side that he helped win a premiership just a year before.
However, Guthrie managed to play a handful of VFL games at the end of last season on his road to recovery.
At the start of 2024, Guthrie opened up on the steps he's taken to overcome that pesky toe injury.
https://twitter.com/GeelongCats/status/1760470541549637714
The 31-year-old turned to ballet to strengthen his toes and feet, with head physio of the Australian Ballet, Dr Sue Mayes working closely to nurse him back to health in a unique manner.
"We've got some great contacts across other sports and Sue's one of them at the Ballet up there in Melbourne," Guthrie told Cats Media in January.
"She was great. She gave me some exercises, some strength stuff to go away and do, she treated me manually, and she's had some brilliant ideas.
"Although our physios are really well rounded, she really specialises in (feet). I think it helped, it might have got me back a week or so earlier."
The Cats 10.13 (73) defeated Carlton 8.8 (56) on Thursday.
Geelong will host St Kilda in round one on Saturday, March 16 as they unveil their new Selwood Stand, named after four-time premiership star Joel Selwood, increasing the capacity of GMHBA stadium to just over 40,000.
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