Sun rising on Cats
The Herald Sun was glowing of the Cats on Monday morning.
In the Herald Sun player of the year competition, three Cats now sit in the top 10. Allen Christensen, who received three votes on the weekend, Joel Selwood and Mathew Stokes all sit eq 6th in the voting.
Jon Anderson commented on the fact the Cats have no problems coming back from a four or five goal deficit and Mark Blicavs' second half gave a glimpse to the future of the tall Cat.
In his column, The Tackle, Mark Robinson was glowing of the Cats small forwards.
"On Saturday night the Cats had Matty Stokes, Allen Christensen and Steven Motlop." Robinson wrote.
"Motlop had a quiet night - just 11 possessions - but recently, former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas opined that Motlop was the best small forward in the game."
"Thomas probably has that mantle, but Thomas - as in Lindsay - doesn't rack up possessions like Stokes, or Christensen, or Motlop can.
Neither can the Blues small forwards."
"The Cats group is better because they are midfielders capable of winning the ball and are forwards capable of kicking bags of three or four."
"It's why Stokes is my pick of the lot of them."
"When he was caught with a bag of cocaine by the police, everyone wondered what it would do to his footy career."
"To his credit, he is a better player post-coke bust than he was pre-coke bust."
"This year in particular, he's become one of the most crucial players in the competition: a possession-winning, goal-kicking midfielder."
"Four of his six games this year have seen returns of 29, 30, 31 and 28 possessions and against Richmond, he helped the Cats get back into the game with stand-up moments in the second quarter."
"In the same game, Christensen feasted on 28 possessions and three goals."
"Together - and many would say they are the second-tier mids at the Cats - they opened up the Tigers."
"Frightening, isn't it?"