GEELONG Amateur coach Travis Robertson admits his side took a risk by playing ruckman Lindsay Smith against Ocean Grove.

While it would have been easier to rest Smith ahead of the mid-season break next week, Robertson said the reigning Les Ash Medallist was adamant he wanted to play on the weekend after training strongly during the week.

Smith has been out since round five with a hip injury which the Ammos feared may have sidelined him for the season.

"It was a risk. It wasn't our plan on Tuesday but he trained really well on Thursday and wanted to play," Robertson said after Smith's return.

"We thought it was a good opportunity to get one game into him and see how he's tracking before having another week off to rest.

Robertson said the Ammos would be forced to keep a close eye on Smith throughout the remainder of the season and monitor the injury closely.

"We'll see how his body keeps going. There might be games that aren't as important for him to play depending on where our list is at," he said.

"The most important thing is that he is fit and firing at the right time of the year. He's crucial for us and you saw even today with the marks he took and his ruckwork was just outstanding."

The Ammos maintained top spot on the ladder heading into the week off, a position Robertson said his side up ideally to claim redemption for their premiership loss to Drysdale last season.

"We're tracking where we want to go. The next step for us is trying to get some consistency into our 22 or 24 players," Robertson said.

"I don't think the side we have is any better or even any worse than some of the sides we've had over the past couple of years. I think at this stage last year we'd won a couple more games.

"We know we've got a good enough group to be competitive in finals, but we need to finish top three before we can think any further than that."

Geelong Amateur resumes its quest for a second premiership in three years when it tackles Modewarre, but will already be eyeing off the opportunity to gain what has been a rare recent win against Drysdale in round 15.

Ocean Grove is now two games out of the top five and is in grave danger of missing the BFL finals for the first time since 1991.