“Step up”: Two Cats in the gun for Suns clash

Two Geelong players are in the gun ahead of Friday night’s Opening Round clash with Gold Coast.

The Cats head into the away meeting with the Suns down on stars and with Mark Blicavs named in the ruck to take on Suns colossus Jarrod Witts.

In order for the Cats to win the ruck battle, SEN’s David King has called on Sam De Koning to stand up and be counted.

De Koning has been named at full-back on Ben King but is likely to find himself in the ruck at stages.

It is in that situation that analyst King wants to notice him.

“The Cats are down on manpower and we know what that means - it means the acid goes on the next level of player,” King said on SEN’s Fireball.

“I’m looking at Sam De Koning who has been around now for quite some time. He’s played just short of 100 games, he’s 25 years of age, he’s over 200cm - I want to see this man.

“It’s not often I miss a guy this tall but I just don’t notice him.

“He’s going to spend some time in the ruck and behind the ball. The ruck role just cannot be Mark Blicavs, it’s time for one of these younger guys to give a chop-out.

“There’s no easy night at the office against Jarrod Witts but I want two see an absolute monster performance from Sam, a competitive performance in the ruck which is an awful place to play. I’d hate to be a ruckman, but guess what? It is your lot in life tonight.

“I want to notice the 204cm guy!”

Co-host Kane Cornes added: “‘SDK’, we want to see you, we need to see you!”

Geelong will be without Coleman Medallist Jeremy Cameron and captain Patrick Dangerfield which weakens the forward line.

But it does provide an opportunity for the talented yet inconsistent Ollie Henry to step up and make his mark, according to Cornes.

“I’ve gone with a similar theme,” Cornes said with his In The Gun selection.

“Ollie Henry, I swear at times, has looked like he is going to be a 200 to 250-game player.

“Then at other times I go, ‘Ollie Henry is in the VFL again, is he?’, ohhh, terrific’. That’s been sort of his lot.

“He’s a first-round draft pick, he’s been in the system for a long period of time, Pick 17 in 2020 - he’s been around for long enough.

“No Dangerfield, no Cameron - step up Ollie Henry and this year will decide whether you’ve got seven years left in the AFL or whether your career is coming to a premature end.

“That’s how serious it’s starting to get for him. I know Geelong have been pretty patient, I know Collingwood fans sort of snigger at his lack of success at Geelong.

“First season was fine but since then it’s been pretty thin. 15 games last year for 14 goals. He’s got to be a two-goal a game player if he wants to justify his spot.

“Ollie Henry, you are in the gun.”

The Cats clash with the Suns at People First Stadium from 8:05pm AEDT tonight.