GEELONG captain Joel Selwood has been officially declared fit to play, named to take on Adelaide at Simonds Stadium on Thursday night.

Selwood suffered a light strain in his hamstring in the club's NAB Challenge match against Melbourne on February 28 in what was his first game back after foot surgery in late January.

The injury forced him to miss the Cats' last practice match with North Melbourne on March 7, but Geelong has always maintained its confidence that he would be fit for round one.

The Cats' skipper will be joined in the team by ruckman Hamish McIntosh, who is set to make his long-awaited debut in the blue and white hoops.

Geelong has opted to go with the pairing of McIntosh and Mark Blicavs while Dawson Simpson has been named as an emergency.

McIntosh last played an AFL game in round 7, 2012 for North Melbourne, with knee and Achilles injuries interrupting his Geelong career since.

Highly-rated small forward Lincoln McCarthy has been given the nod in  Jimmy Bartel's milestone 250th game.

The Cats side is:
1. Mitch Brown
3. Jimmy Bartel
4. Andrew Mackie
5. Travis Varcoe
6. Lincoln McCarthy
7. Harry Taylor (vc)
9. James Kelly
13. Tom Lonergan
14. Joel Selwood (c)
17. Hamish McIntosh
19. Taylor Hunt
20. Steve Johnson
21. Jordan Murdoch
22. Mitch Duncan
23. Josh Caddy
25. Jared Rivers
26. Tom Hawkins
27. Mathew Stokes
29. Cam Guthrie
33. George Horlin-Smith
44. Corey Enright
46. Mark Blicavs

EMG
16. Dawson Simpson
38. Jackson Sheringham
40. Jackson Thurlow