McCarthy plays way into team

LINCOLN McCarthy’s longawaited AFL return is one of three Geelong changes for tomorrow’s match against Gold Coast.

McCarthy, Wylie Buzza and Lachie Fogarty were all named last night, with Esava Ratugolea (injured), Stewart Crameri and Cory Gregson making way for the clash with Gold Coast tomorrow.

It will be McCarthy’s first AFL game since Round 3 last year, when he had 16 disposals and kicked a goal in the 29point win over Melbourne.

He has averaged 13 disposals and kicked four goals in three VFL appearances, with coach Chris Scott declaring the 24-year-old ready to go.

“His form has been pretty good,” Scott said. “I don’t think we’ve been shy in making it clear that we’d like to get him back into the team.”

Buzza, who played six matches in 2017, has been toiling in the VFL and will be used in a similar role up forward as Ratugolea.

The Suns swung the axe at the selection table, with Stuart Dew making five changes to the team comprehensively beaten by Port Adelaide in China two weeks ago.

Star forward and co-captain Tom Lynch returns, along with Jack Martin, Sam Day, Jesse Joyce and Will Brodie, giving Gold Coast plenty of confidence it can cause an upset in its first match at Metricon Stadium for the year.

Scott said his team was playing below the standards it felt it should be at but added the problems were fixable.

“We haven’t played well but we’re not making such a big deal of it that it becomes a millstone,” he said.

“We almost never come away from games thinking that we can’t improve and we have some really clear areas we think we can improve.”