The young forward that everyone has been waiting for, Shane Kersten, will finally make his debut this Saturday against the Suns.

On numerous occasions last year Kersten was on the brink of stepping up but unfortunately injury continued to spoil the Cats plans for the debutant.

The closest Kersten has been to an AFL appearance was last year when he was made an emergency for the preliminary final against Hawthorn.

“He came close to making his AFL debut on a number of occasions, but his injuries meant he never played enough games in a row to force his way into the team,” Amos told www.geelongcats.com.au

“It felt like every time he was on the cusp of getting an AFL game, he seemed to get injured, which held him back.

“But he's a great talent and played at a really high level in the VFL.

“We're excited by what he's capable of doing in the future.”

In 2011, Geelong picked up Kersten from Western Australia in Round 2 of the National Draft at number 34.

Since arriving at the club, Kersten has bagged a grand total of 88 goals in the VFL, where he received the leading goal kicker award in his first two years.

In 2012 he kicked 38 goals in 17 games, 41 in 2013 over 13 games and this year he has already smuggled nine in three games. Six of those goals were booted during last Saturday’s 77-point win against Coburg.

However, this amount of goals per match isn’t an unusual feat for the 21-year-old, who kicked an average of six goals in the final month of last year’s VFL home and away season.   

After making a full recovery from knee surgery and displaying a dominant performance in his third VFL game for the year, senior staff could no longer ignore the young forward. Eventually his six goals and eight marks were a loud enough bang on the senior’s door to push him through into the AFL side.

“Kersten played brilliant football today (Saturday against Coburg). His form has been on an upward curve over the last three weeks along with his game time. To kick six goals and own best position was great,” Geelong’s VFL senior coach, Matthew Knights, said.

“He gave a couple away also, which is one of Shane’s traits. He likes his goals but he also likes to feed his teammates. It’s a really great quality to have.”

Kersten will join the Cats up to Metricon Stadium to battle the Suns on Saturday at 4:40pm.