Few people outside of GMHBA Stadium could name the team which conceded the least points in the AFL last season.
The ragtag group of footballers who did it, aren’t the traditional AFL back six, but they’ve found their home inside the defensive 50 at GMHBA Stadium.
Zach Tuohy labelled the defensive group as the Misfits on the Cats’ official podcast last year and the mismatched group of competitors took the title as a badge of honour.
With Geelong champion Matthew Scarlett at the helm, they’re ready to terrorise opposition forward lines.
Meet the Misfits.
The General
Scarlett recently named Mark Blicavs as the ‘general in defence’, and the former 1500m runner sums up everything the Misfits are about.
Blicavs has bounced around the Geelong lineup on his way to two best and fairest seasons and has now found his home in the back six.
“This is his backline now, he’s the general and we’ve got to mould it around him” Scarlett says.
The Pillars in Defence
An ex-Carlton swingman (Henderson), a pole vault champion (Bews) and mature-ager to All Australian (Stewart) are amongst the key figures down back.
Coupled with jumping Jack Henry, veteran Harry Taylor and top ten Carji Greeves finisher Jake Kolodahnij, Scarlett and the coaching staff have some selection problems to solve.
“They’re all training really well so I’m not sure how they’re all going to fit in, but I’ll try my best to get them in,” he says.
“Hendo has had a great pre-season, Harry and Blitz haven’t missed a session so they’re going really well as well. Kolodjashnij, Jack Henry and Stewie are all training really well.”
The Runners
A duo of Irish dashers are key for generating some drive out of defence. Alongside Tuohy and O’Connor, Jake Kolodashnij and Zach Guthrie have displayed great versatility and run.
“Jake is a really good runner so he’s able to push up onto the wing and give us plenty of run. Mark O’Connor is another one that we’ve been able to put a lot of wing time into as well as Zach Guthrie because they’re really good runners,” Scarlett says.
“It’s good having those guys who are flexible, they can play back and wing. I think Kola will play majority down back.”
The New Kid on the Block
The latest Irish Cat to hit Kardinia Park has turned heads with his AFL-ready body at just 20 years of age.
“He’s going really well Stefan. He’s a really good competitor and unbelievable athlete,” Scarlett says.
“Obviously he’s still learning the game and he’s got a lot to learn, but we like what we see so far, he has a crack – yeah he’s good.”
