JOEL Selwood could make an extraordinary return to football for Friday week’s qualifying final just 32 days after syndesmosis surgery.

Bulldog Tom Liberatore returned for an elimination final in six weeks last year but a qualifying final return for Selwood would be 10 days short of that timeline.

The Cats have been warned that if Selwood tears his ankle ligament with a premature return his year is over and he might sustain permanent damage.

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But Melbourne surgeon David Young told the Cats Selwood had the all-clear to begin training after his August 7 surgery.

The Cats face a tough decision given Selwood will clearly be ready for a preliminary final if they beat Richmond for 14th time in a row.

On Tuesday all public tickets were sold for a Tigers-Cats clash that could draw 95,000 fans at the MCG.

media_camera Joel Selwood injured his ankle in the Round 20 loss to Sydney.

The inspirational Cats skipper will likely ramp up his preparation by testing the ankle at training early next week to assess his progress.

Respected sports medico Larkins told the Herald Sun he believed Selwood could be on track to make an amazing return.

“He is a very good chance to play,’’ Larkins said.

“(Young) did Tom Liberatore’s surgery too and he is very happy with him and said he is happy for him to train next week.

“I think it means he is more likely to play. Six weeks is the right amount of time to recover and anything short of that is extraordinary.

“You wouldn’t expect him to do anything dramatic before next Tuesday or Wednesday before a Friday game, but he’s been doing very well and doing everything right.”

Larkins said there were significant risks with an early return for Selwood — and not just this season.

“The problem if you have a recurrence is you can have chronic ankle problems going forward into 2018 which is a big risk,” he said.

media_camera Joel Selwood after the Round 23 win over GWS at Simonds Stadium.

“The risk is you damage this synthetic ligament which is used to hold the bones together and if he tore it again he would need more surgery.

“That Cats have to weight that up. I have no doubt he will be ready for a prelim. If there was any doubt the Cats would have a plan to win without him as they did against GWS.

“And then they would have the week off and could really push him into a prelim as a returning player. To me that’s the best scenario.”

Retiring Geelong veteran Tom Lonergan said he believed Selwood was more chance to return later in the finals.

The Cats will try to simulate part of a game with heavy training sessions in the coming week after battling off the bye in recent seasons.

Since 2011 they have lost eight of 10 games off the mid-season and post-Round 23 bye, winning one of those after Isaac Smith’s wide kick last year.

Larkins believes James Parsons is unlikely to play in that qualifying final because of a medial ligament sprain in his ankle.

That could see him miss three or more weeks, a blow given his impressive form.