Chapman misses training, but should play

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Geelong remain hopeful veteran Paul Chapman will recover from a hamstring problem in time for Friday night's top-of-the-table clash against Essendon.

Chapman hasn't played for the Cats since their Round 4 match against the Swans, but coach Chris Scott expects the 31-year-old to train later in the week and be fit to tackle the Bombers.

"He hasn't trained fully this week, but we will leave that a bit later," Scott said on Tuesday.

"Once he has done that we will be in a better position to judge, but we are extremely hopeful."

While Scott expects Chapman to return, he said young tall Nathan Vardy won't be rushed back into the senior line-up.

Vardy booted six goals in the VFL on the weekend in just his second competitive hit out of the season as he returns to full fitness following a groin problem, but Scott said he wants the 21-year-old to continue his recovery in the reserves.

"His performance (in the VFL) puts him in our best 22, but our conservative management means that he won't play," Scott said.

"Our VFL team has got a bye, which is sort of unfortunate timing in a way, but he certainly won't play this week.

"And the probability is that he won't play the following week against Port Adelaide."

Scott also said the fitness of key forward Tom Hawkins would continue to be monitored as the season progressed.

He indicated Hawkins had been troubled by a stiff back, but the problem would not force him to miss the Essendon match.

"Tom has got a stiff back and we have been up front about that," Scott said.

"He missed the week before and he is still limited by that.

"Medical opinion is that he's certainly not doing himself any harm by playing. He is just a little bit limited.

"At some point we need to decide if he is so limited that it's affecting his performance too much, but there's no secret in the fact that he's a little bit stiff and he's not as agile as he is at his best.

"But he is still a bit of a handful close to goal."

Scott said he would love to give off-season recruit Hamish McIntosh a match before the Cats' bye in Round 12, but it was too early to speculate given he was yet to play in the VFL.

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