GEELONG's reliance on Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood is well documented but until recently the Cats lacked a genuine hard-edged midfielder to complement the influence of the star duo.
The inclusion of mature-aged midfielder Sam Menegola, now at his third club, has made the Cats a far more balanced unit on the eve of finals.
After stints at Hawthorn in 2011 and Fremantle in 2012-2014, where he failed to play senior games, Menegola has clearly matured as a player.
If not for a serious knee injury suffered in the NAB Challenge, the midfielder recruited from Subiaco in the WAFL with pick No.66 in last year's draft would have been in contention to be selected against the Hawks in round one.
Since making his debut in round 18, six years since first being on an AFL list, Menegola has been making up for lost time and has quickly established himself in the Cats' best 22.
Menegola has averaged 16.4 Schick AFL Player Ratings points to be ranked 14th in the AFL in the past five rounds.
He is eighth in the competition for inside 50s (5.3), 10th in groundball gets (9.2) and 20th in score involvements (7.7).
The only other players to rank inside the top 20 (over that stretch) in those categories are All Australian squad members Dangerfield and the Sydney Swans' Josh Kennedy.
Menegola's running capacity, he is marginally behind Mark Blicavs in the endurance stakes, and his determination to win contested ball has seen him average 25.3 disposals in his first five games.
From a personnel point of view, the 24-year-old has also given Chris Scott more flexibility when picking his preferred side leading into September.
Charged with playing a defensive midfielder's role early in the season, Blicavs has benefited from having more freedom as a roaming on-baller. Cameron Guthrie has spent more time in defence over recent weeks and Josh Caddy has been largely deployed as a lead-up mid-sized forward.
Mitch Duncan has shifted into more of an outside midfielder's role, while Scott Selwood is likely to assume a run-with job in finals to allow his older brother, Dangerfield, Menegola, and others, to hunt the footy.
Scott said Menegola had done everything that had been asked of him and more.
"It's not a surprise to us that he's in our team at the moment, but I guess you don't really expect someone who hasn't played AFL footy at all to play the way he has," Scott said recently.
"He's a big midfielder, he's an elite runner, really strong over the ball, so the signs are good."
While Dangerfield and Selwood hold the key to the Cats' flag hopes, the opportunity is there for Menegola to embrace the challenge in front of him and perform on the grandest of stages.
