GEELONG defender Tom Ruggles says he would be ready to step into any vacancy left by the injured Jackson Thurlow.

Thurlow will sit out the season after scans yesterday confirmed the devastating news of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Thurlow, tipped for a breakout season across half back, was stretchered from the ground after a seemingly innocuous collision with Essendon’s Mitch Brown on Saturday.

Ruggles, last year’s Geelong VFL best and fairest who was then picked up in the rookie draft, said he felt he could fill Thurlow’s spot if called upon by coach Chris Scott.

“Yeah I think I’m ready, personally,” Ruggles said.

“It’s just making sure that I do everything right, learn a lot off the older boys and talk a lot with the coaches to find out how to get better and learn the game plan a bit more.

“Hopefully, if a spot does open up, I can take it.”

The 23-year-old had 15 possessions in his first outing with the AFL team against a virtually non-competitive Essendon on the weekend.

Assistant coach James Rahilly said Ruggles had impressed the Cats’ coaching staff and that he would be on their radar as a replacement for Thurlow.

“I thought Tom was pretty good, his defensive work was good,” Rahilly said.

media_camera Tom Ruggles in VFL action last year. Picture: Alison Wynd

“His one-on-one stuff, he gave us that rebound, so he could come in … he could be an option for us.”

If Thurlow is added to the long-term injury list, Ruggles could be upgraded to the senior list immediately.

Ruggles said he had worked hard over the pre-season on being more defensively conscious.

“I’ve worked a lot with Shane O’Bree on taking my man out and then winning the ball from there, and not trying to gamble and try and win the ball (straight away),” he said.

“Defence-first has been a massive priority for me over the pre-season and everyone else.

“I think I can read the ball pretty well, so fitting into the backline and reading the play, taking my man out and then working off him and trying to get forward and use the ball.”

The Cats’ backline took a hit to its personnel in the second half of last weekend’s game, with Tom Lonergan (ankle) sitting out the second half and Lachie Henderson (knee) taking no part in the final quarter, adding to the absence of Thurlow.

Veteran Andrew Mackie has also been rested for the game, but Ruggles said there was good depth in the defensive area for Geelong to call on.

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“We’ve got a good mixture in there, that can use the footy as well and run off their opponents, so we’re looking pretty good down there at the moment,” he said.

“I think (being a few defenders down) slowed our ball movement down a little bit, I think a few of the boys, with less rotations, were a bit tired.

“We just wanted to control the footy and not turn it over too easily and have to defend the whole time, so I thought we did it pretty well.”

The Cats said injuries to Lonergan and Henderson were not serious, while Mackie is also expected to be available against Fremantle in Western Australia on Saturday.

Ruggles hopes he can get another chance to impress before the season open against Hawthorn on Easter Monday.

“I hope so, hopefully there’s another game for me, but we’ll just have to find out during the week with Mackie and that available as well,” he said.