In many ways, the way in which the VFL Cats final home and away match of the year panned out, summed up their 2014 season as a whole.

They set out knowing they had to win by a 10-goal margin to go past the percentage of the team above them on the ladder.

They played some trademark football, tough in the contest and attacked with flair. It was football that delighted all onlookers at the Cattery.

But it was not without poor periods where simple mistakes were made and the opposition were allowed to kick quick goals in succession.

At the final siren the VFL Cats had won by 54 points. Nearly got there, but not quite.

Other results in the final round confirmed that the Cats would miss out on the final 8 by 2 points - a solitary draw the advantage to the team above them on the table.

It is a situation that has the side looking back at a few ‘what ifs’ of the season gone by.

The young group lost 4 matches by less than 17 points and at some stage lead by 4 goals or more late in each of these games.

The second tier Cats only lost to one team below them on the ladder – the newly created Richmond Tigers – and unfortunately did it on two occasions, including a heartbreaking 4-point loss at Simonds Stadium in Round 14.

In the end the side was not good enough to qualify for a third consecutive finals series, but the young group will take a lot from the season as a whole and Cats fans should too.

First year recruits Darcy Lang, Jarrad Jansen, Jake Kolodjashnij, Nick Bourke, James Toohey and Michael Luxford all played the majority of the season and all six made an impact at some stage in their first year of ‘senior’ football.

In coming weeks they will get a head start on preparing their bodies for season number two.

Second year players Jackson Thurlow and Brad Hartman both played at a consistent level throughout the season and broke through on more than one occasion to play AFL football. Both players find themselves in the mix to take part in AFL finals action.

Schroder, Stringer and Sheringham lead the young midfield brigade and gave the AFL match committee something to ponder on a weekly basis. The same could be said for versatile key position players Mitch Brown (key forward/key back) and Joshua Walker (key forward/key back/ruck) who were called on to play in a variety of roles.

When playing at VFL level, Jed Bews was a standout. While third year tall defender Joel Hamling went head to head with the opposition’s best forward on a weekly basis.
Following the loss of VFL regulars Troy Selwood, Mark Corrigan, Jaxson Barham and Ben Raidme (injured), a new group of VFL listed players were required to stand up and fill the void.

Experienced skipper Dom Gleeson lead the way and was well supported by Jack Hollmer, Matthew Sully, Mitch Herbison, Daniel Gibbs, Andrew Banjanin and Tom Maas.

Around them a new group of players such as Kieren Paliouras, Dane McFarlane, Cameron Tudor, Zak Sherman, James Linton and Luke Bath have started to emerge.

The Cats had 14 debutants including five 23rd players in Tom Atkins, Stephen Bensted, Fraser Fort, Brant Haintz and Paul Burchell.
The combination of the Cats final win/loss ratio and an impressive percentage of 116.04 would have had the side playing finals in 12 of the past 14 VFL seasons, but not in 2014.

There is no clear favourite for the 2014 VFL best & fairest. But in keeping with the theme of 2014 – it should go down to the wire.

‘2014 Year in Review – Stats’
Ladder Position: 9th (9 wins, 9 losses)
Percentage: 116.04% (6th in competition)
Average Points For: 97.5 (5th)
Average Points Against: 84.5 (8th)
Average Winning Margin: 52 points
Average Losing Margin: 26.7 points

Players Used: 46 (25 AFL & 21 VFL)

VFL Debutants: 14
Average number of AFL listed players used each week: 13.5
Average number of VFL listed players used each week: 9.5
Most Goals: Jack Hollmer (29), Josh Walker (25), Mitch Brown (21)
Most Games: Jack Hollmer & Joel Hamling (18)
Who played the most VFL matches (9+) in 2014?
B:  Matthew Sully, Jake Kolodjashnij, Jed Bews
HB: Jackson Sheringham, Joel Hamling, Jackson Thurlow
C: Jarrad Jansen, Brad Hartman, Darcy Lang
HF: Michael Luxford, Josh Walker, Dominic Gleeson (c)
F: Jack Hollmer (vc), Mitch Brown, James Toohey
R: Andrew Banjanin, Jesse Stringer, Jordan Schroder
I/C: Nick Bourke, Daniel Gibbs, Tom Maas, Luke Bath
23rd Player: Fraser Fort & Tom Atkins (both 5 games).