Incredibly the Cats sit in 9th position but are only one win and percentage behind the 3rd placed Footscray Bulldogs, leaving many pundits to predict this could be one of the most even VFL seasons on record.
At the selection table the Cats have named 16 AFL senior and rookie-listed players in the 27-man squad, including AFL omissions Jesse Stringer, Darcy Lang and Brad Hartman. Third year defender Jed Bews is the only other AFL listed inclusion after he was ‘managed’ last weekend on the back of playing 4 consecutive matches at AFL level.
St Joseph’s key position player Cameron Tudor joins former Werribee Tigers players Dom Gleeson, Jackson Sheringham, Andrew Banjanin and Kieren Paliouras in the squad after an impressive performance against Colac in the GFL last weekend. St Mary’s utility Luke Bath has also been included on the 9-man interchange bench.
Drysdale defender Stephen Bensted will play his 3rd straight match as the 23rd player after another solid performance against the Coburg Lions at Piranha Park last weekend.
The 7th placed Werribee Tigers will be looking to get their season back on track after consecutive losses by narrow margins to Williamstown (9 points) and Essendon (1 point) in recent weeks.
The Tigers, who are partially aligned with North Melbourne, will be without influential ruckman Daniel Currie who injured his shoulder last weekend. Despite the loss of Currie, the Tigers have named a formidable line up that includes AFL listed players Leigh Adams, Majak Daw, Scott McMahon, Sam Wright, Mason Wood, Kieren Harper, Ben Brown, Tim McGennis, Taylor Hine and experienced VFL listed campaigners Ben Warren, Jarred Moore, Ben Speight, Sam Wormald, Scott Sherlock and Jesse Crichton.
The match has lost one of its drawcard events though with Allen Christensen’s elevation to the Geelong AFL side. The AFL premiership star would have taken to the field against his younger brother Aaron, who has been named as the 23rd player for the Tigers.
Whenever the two VFL clubs come together in the home and away season they play off for the prestigious ‘K-Rock Cup’ with K-Rock being a longtime valued sponsor and supporter of both teams.
Saturday’s installment of the K-Rock Cup at Simonds Stadium, will kick off at the special time of 12.00pm, with the Polly Farmer Gates opening at 11.00am. As with all VFL home fixtures, 2014 Geelong Cats members gain FREE entry.
For all Cats fans that cannot get to Simonds on the day, the match will be tweeted live, so follow @GeelongVFL on Twitter for all the action including live scores, stats updates and photos.
Bendigo Bank Cats – Round 11 Selected Side
B: Jed Bews, Jake Kolodjashnij, Nick Bourke
HB: Taylor Hunt, Joel Hamling, Jackson Thurlow
C: Jackson Sheringham, Jarrad Jansen, Jesse Stringer
HF: Darcy Lang, James Toohey, Brad Hartman
F: Jack Hollmer, Mitch Brown, Michael Luxford
R: Andrew Banjanin, Jordan Schroder, Dominic Gleeson
I/C: Matthew Sully, Mitch Herbison, Kieren Paliouras, Cameron Tudor, Daniel Gibbs, Luke Bath, Dane McFarlane, James Linton, Stephen Bensted (23rd Player).
