VFL/AFL great Leigh Matthews believes an unheralded Cat is emulating Joel Selwood in recent weeks.
Tom Atkins, the club’s former VFL skipper before being picked up in the 2018 rookie draft, has been deployed as a utility in his short AFL career but is now spending more time on the ball.
The 26-year-old has attended at least 70 per cent of centre bounces in the Cats’ last four games, picking up the slack in the absence of both Patrick Dangerfield and Brandan Parfitt.
He was also thrown into the centre bounce and got the pivotal clearance in Geelong’s triumph over Richmond last weekend that saw Jack Henry kick the final goal of the game.
He’s just one of a number of players who Matthews believes has surprised and surged the Cats forward in 2022.
“Geelong are amazing, they’ve got new weapons,” Matthews told Sportsday.
“Tyson Stengle we’ve spoken about, (he came about) all of a sudden. He’s not a worker bee forward but he finds the ball and kicks goals.
“(But) Tom Atkins, he’s now playing like Joel Selwood.
“As Joel is now at his age, he’s now playing a more subsidiary role, but Tom Atkins is almost their contested ball winner and clearance player all of a sudden in the middle of the ground, and he’s got a bit of leg speed.
“I’ve been an enormous fan of Joel Selwood but obviously you always slow down a bit as you get a bit older.
“So Tom Atkins and Sam De Koning has popped up as well.”
Selwood has captained Geelong since 2012 and broke the record for the most VFL/AFL games captained earlier this year.
Despite not winning a flag under his captaincy, Selwood has won three in his time at Geelong and has played a large role in the club’s dominance in the 21st century.
“To me, not much doubt that the Cats have been the champion club so far - and I’m talking club, not team, a whole club - this century,” Matthews said earlier this month.
Atkins has averaged 19.6 and 4.6 clearances per game in his last five appearances, while Selwood is averaging 21.6 disposals and 4.4 clearances over the same period.