Lincoln McCarthy
A name not mentioned for a while is Lincoln McCarthy. Since playing the first two games of 2014, McCarthy has experienced a litany of injuries that have kept him out for much of the season. However, McCarthy has returned to VFL action in the last month and has gradually been building his performances culminating in a four goal, 23 disposal and 10 mark effort against Sandringham. The Cats are without a small crumbing forward at the moment and with performances like this, McCarthy may still make an AFL impact in 2014.
Jed Bews
The Cats have been thrilled with Jed Bews’ output in his debut AFL season. With pace, smarts and a seasoned body, Bews has performed admirably on a variety of players including Hayden Ballantyne, Paul Chapman and Jeff Garlett. His game last time against the Kangaroos was equally important with a majority of the time spent on Lindsay Thomas. Although Thomas finished with three goals, one was from a contentious free kick and another was a ball spilled into the goal square. More importantly Bews kept him to just 11 touches and two marks, a massive feat considering Thomas’ talent. Last week in the VFL, Bews took best on ground honours again finishing with 28 disposals and eight marks.
Allen Christensen
Like thousands of people in workplaces and schools across the country, Christensen came down with the dreaded cold just prior to the trip to Sydney last week. The Cats didn’t want any risks with the young midfielder so pulled him out of the team to play GWS. What the Cats will be looking to get out of Christensen who has only played four games in 2014 is scoreboard effectiveness. With just two goals to his name this year the Cats will be hoping that number boosts to around the 1.1 per game he averaged in 2013.
Mark Blicavs
Who would have thought the Cats would have desperately missed a player with 38 games and two years of football to his name when they took on the Giants last week? Not many, but that is exactly what happened when Blicavs was withdrawn from the team last week due to being managed. When Cats players were out on their legs and struggling to move the ball past halfway in the final quarter, the running power of Blicavs would have made a massive impact. No question the utility will return for the clash with the Roos.
