4 Andrew Mackie
This year Mackie had an All-Australian year in defence and was awarded with third place in Geelong’s best and fairest. Mackie, who didn’t miss a game all season and achieved a career best of 519 disposals for the year, averaged 20.8 possessions per game. Each time he stepped foot on to the field he averaged 14.7 kicks, 6.5 handballs, 6.2 marks and 81.6 dreamteam points.
Amos' review:
He had an outstanding year. It was great recognition for him to him to be included in the All Australian team for the first time. He played as consistently well as I've seen in my time at the club. When Jared Rivers went down with his knee injury, Mack was able to play as the third tall and often played on the resting ruckman. He did that really well. Then he played on some smaller opponents and was also very good offensively. He finished third in our best and fairest. He's had some good years before, but I don't think he's had a better year.
5 Travis Varcoe
Unfortuantley this year Varcoe had to contend with another long-term injury, after fracturing his collarbone in round 3 against Carlton. Varcoe spent 12 weeks back on the boundary before returning to the field in round 16 against Melbourne, where he made a career best of nine tackles. The speedy midfielder, who played 14 games for the year, averaged 12.1 disposals per game with 5.3 kicks, 6.8 handballs, along with a season total of eight goals.
Amos' review:
Yet another player who had a frustrating year. His season started really well. He was a really important part of our team in the early rounds. But after injuring his shoulder and spending three months on the sidelines, he was never quite able to get back to that same level. It's critical that Trav has an uninterrupted pre-season.
6 Lincoln McCarthy
Early this year the young forward, Lincoln McCarthy, was placed onto the long-term injury list, after injuring his navicular in his foot during the Cats VFL finals campaign in 2012. Unfortunately McCarthy wasn’t able to return to the track and remained sidelined for the entire 2013 season.
Amos' review:
It was a frustrating season for Linc due to his foot injury. He didn't play a game, but he was back training in the back half of the year. His attitude towards his rehab and the way he carries himself around the footy club has earned him a lot of respect. There's no doubting his talent, it's just a matter of him being able to play. We're confident he won't have anymore setbacks and he'll be able to have a big pre-season and give himself a chance to play plenty of footy next year. He's a really impressive young man.
