The Bendigo Bank Cats have made five changes for their Qualifying Final against the Casey Demons at Casey Fields on Saturday afternoon.

Sam Simpson headlines the inclusions to the 27-man squad. Joining him is James Gow, Callum Mitchell, Jackson McLachlan and Patrick Dowling.

Key defender Tom Lang has been omitted.

With the respective AFL sides set to face in an elimination final next week, this match shapes as a tantalising contest as players from both sides look to push their cases for an AFL recall.

The Cats forward line looks particularly potent with tall timber Stewart Crameri, Esava Ratugolea and Ryan Gardner strong targets inside attacking 50.

At the other end of the ground, Geelong must find a way of curbing the influence of Jeff Garlett, who is in red-hot form after kicking four goals last week.

Zach Guthrie could be that man, with James Tsitas and Sam Simpson other options.

Saturday’s Qualifying final kicks off at 2.10pm.


Previous meetings in 2018
Rd 16 @ GMHBA Stadium: Casey Demons 8.9 (57) d Geelong 8.6 (54)
Rd 4 @ Casey Fields: Geelong 12.12 (84) d Casey Demons 9.8 (62)


Teams

Bendigo Bank Cats
B: Z Guthrie, T House, J Tsitas
HB: S Simpson, C Constable, Q Narkle
C: J Parsons, J Thurlow, J Cunico
HF: S Crameri, E Ratugolea, L Fogarty
F: L McCarthy, R Gardner, J Jones
R: Z Smith, T Atkins, G Horlin-Smith
INT: J Gow, S Siggins, P Dowling, M Hayball, L Kiel, G Miers, B Reid, C Mitchell
23P: J McLachlan

Casey Demons
B: J Smith, D Keilty, H Petty
HB: D Johnstone, J Hutchins, J Hunt
C: J Wagner, J Lockhart, T Bugg
HF: P McKenna, T Smith, J Garlett
F: C MacHaya, M Hannan, C Stockdale
R: C Pederson, M White, C Wagner
INT: G Lok, M Gent, A Quigley, M Lefau, A Scott, W Collis, J Munro, J Briggs
23P: T Freeman