The Cats first loss in eight games and an injury to Shane Kersten will mean spots are up for grabs against the Lions this week.

Mitch Brown
With Shane Kersten succumbing to a hamstring injury the long-awaited return of Mitch Brown may happen this week. A nice performance on Friday night saw him finish with figures of 20 disposals, eight marks, four i50s and two goals. Cherry ripe.

Lincoln McCarthy
Buoyed by his recent resigning, McCarthy blitzed the Bombers on Friday night. By game’s end he had 24 touches, five tackles and three goals and a superb performance. Chris Scott has often mentioned his x-factor appeal, something the Cats needed in Saturday night’s second half.

Darcy Lang
Remarkably, Lang went from not being picked as even an emergency on Thursday night to being the Cats first emergency for the game after the withdrawal of George Horlin-Smith. His plus is his excellent skill level, which is of near elite standard.

Steve Johnson
Will he or won’t he? Looks like another week of guessing whether the ‘mercurial one’ will be available for the Lions clash. He’s off the crutches and will need to have no problems at training to line up Saturday night.

Jed Bews
A superb defensive effort on Friday night will keep Bews right in the mix to take on Brisbane this week. Playing on a variety of Bombers small forward Bews defended well and set up numerous forward forays.

George Horlin-Smith
Missed last week with groin soreness. Despite winning the clearances against the Hawks, the Cats will be keen to get Horlin-Smith’s body back into the middle for this week and finals.

Josh Walker
Just like Brown, Josh Walker finds himself right in the frame for a late push for AFL finals. The other plus Walker has going for him is his ability to play ruck and free up Mark Blicavs to play around the ground. His stats on Friday were incredibly impressive. 16 disposals, three clearances, 22 hitouts against Tom Bellchambers and two goals.

Jackson Sheringham
Whilst some believe that others have gone past him, Jackson Sheringham’s best on ground performance and a mention from Chris Scott in last week’s press conference has got him right back into contention. Friday night’s numbers were 26 disposals, seven marks, seven tackles and five i50s.