VFL: McHugh earns recall for Cats encounter

Updated November 2 2012 - 10:09am, first published July 17 2008 - 2:22pm

ROHAN McHUGH has earned a recall for North Ballarat's encounter with Geelong in the Victorian Football League in Geelong tomorrow.McHugh has not played since North Ballarat's heavy loss to the Northern Bullants on May 18.Having made his senior debut in the opening round, he played the opening seven matches before being dropped in the fall-out from the Bullants calamity.McHugh is one of three compulsory changes for the Selkirk Roosters, which meet the Cats in the curtain-raiser AFL match of the day between Geelong and Western Bulldogs.Blake Grima returns after just one game with North Melbourne in the AFL, while Kangaroos rookie Cruize Garlett has also been promoted after a short stretch in the VFL reserves.North Ballarat has lost captain Shaune Moloney and North Melbourne-listed Jesse Smith to hamstring injuries.Corey Jones has been recalled by the Kangaroos.Smith will not play again this year.Initially expected to miss about four weeks, North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley last night said Smith would not return this season. Smith has had a wretched run with injury since the Roos took him with pick 42 in the 2004 AFL draft. An ankle problem resulted in him missing most of the 2006 season and this year he has been plagued by hamstring problems, restricting him to just two AFL games. Laidley said Smith's problems stemmed from a lack of strength and conditioning in his legs and the club would put him on a specialised program in a bid to resolve the issue. The coach said the constant injury setbacks had taken an emotional toll on the 21-year-old. "He's struggling with the mental side of it, he really is," Laidley said. Geelong did not name Nathan Ablett, but the side does include powerhouse young forward Tom Hawkins and captain James Byrne.

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