Mark Blicavs has commenced his rehabilitation program, while Tom Hawkins is expected to return to running later this week as the duo work through their respective programs following hamstring injuries on the weekend.

Geelong Cats General Manager of Football Simon Lloyd provided further detail to Monday’s preliminary update.

“Mark suffered a high hamstring strain and Tom suffered a minor hamstring strain. Both have gone straight into their rehabilitation immediately, and we expect Tom to be running by the backend of this week,” Lloyd said.

“It’s obviously unfortunate, but we’ll give progress reports over the coming weeks as they both work through their rehab.

“Probably one positive, which both Tom and Mark are pleased with, is the response from the playing group in the VFL on the weekend against the Bullants. We saw some great performances and a lot of those guys will be in contention for games this weekend against Port Adelaide.”

Lloyd said Sam Simpson will celebrate another milestone on his rehabilitation journey, with his splint set to be removed on Friday, following earlier surgery on a hand tendon.

“He’ll go into full training, which is positive for Sam,” Lloyd said.

“As I’ve said previously, he’s been fully professional (with his approach to rehabilitation), and he’s full training, so it’s great for Sam. It will be great to have him out there unencumbered.”

Meanwhile, young Cat James Willis is expected to be sidelined for the short term after a hernia operation last week. Willis, who is expected back at the Club on Wednesday, won't be sidelined for long and is set to jump straight into running on his return.

Fellow youngster Flynn Kroeger is also back in full training and is expected to be available for selection for the Cats’ VFL match against Collingwood next weekend.

Both Jhye Clark and Cameron Guthrie are progressing well in their respective programs from foot injuries.

“Jhye is now doing Alt-G, so he’s running, which is really positive,” Lloyd said.

“Ove the next fortnight, he will start in group training, so he’s probably a couple of weeks just behind Cam Guthrie. So he’s progressing as expected and ticking everything he needs to.

“Cam, even though he hasn’t been playing, he’s been fully involved in the program. What we’re seeing now on the track is speed and acceleration, so he’s working through all those steps.

“He’s still going through his reconditioning and doing his cross-training and things like that, but he’s involved in group training now as well, so we’re happy with his progress and he’s tracking really well. We’d love to have him out there this week, but (he’ll be back) in the not too distant future.”

Jed Bews made a successful, managed return through the VFL on the weekend, with Club medical staff to assess his progress over the coming week.

“Jed completed 8-9km, so it was part-game, but (he) still moved really well, moved freely,” Lloyd said.

“(He) came out post-game and it felt really positive. So that’s a real positive step for Jed, and we’ll assess him over the course of this week to see what it looks like for this week.