WHEN THE HEAT’S ON, MITCH IS THE MAN

IT is no mistake that Mitch Duncan has found himself with the ball in his hands in the dying seconds of two games this year when Geelong ended up kicking for goal after the siren to try to seal a win.

The Cats are littered with star midfielders, matchwinners and players that will be walkup starts for the Australian Football Hall of Fame when they become eligible.

But it is Duncan who is trusted almost more than any other player when the heat rises late in tight contests, and so it was in Round 15 against the Western Bulldogs and Round 18 against Melbourne as he found Harry Taylor and Zach Tuohy respectively inside-50.

Externally, most of the hype this season around Geelong has been focused on the so-called holy trinity of Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett, as well as boom recruit Tim Kelly.

Internally, though, Duncan is rated as highly as anyone.

Yet the West Australian continues to fly under the radar.

After a career-best season in 2017, the 27-year-old was a shock omission from the 40-man All-Australian squad and this year, despite his numbers being slightly down because of a change in his role, he has again gone largely unnoticed by commentators as others get the credit for taking the Cats to a 12th finals series in 13 years.

But to know Duncan is to know that is exactly how he wants things to be.

“That is how I like it, to be honest,” Duncan said.

“It has probably been like that for my whole career ever since I was a junior. I just go about my business, do the best that I can, work hard and the rewards will come in the end.

“The reward for me is playing my role and winning footy games and helping my teammates do that.

“(My season) has been solid, I have played a lot of different roles, which is sometimes a strength and sometimes a weakness but I feel like I have been pretty solid.

“There is still some improvement left in me and I’m just looking forward to this weekend and playing my role and doing the best I can for the team.”

The team-first mentality Duncan carries, which has seen him alter his role on a number of occasions this year, might mean he is winning less of the ball but his use of the footy is still elite.

He was ranked 11th in the league for total uncontested possessions and 20th for effective disposals and metres gained per game.

But having been to the top so early in his career — the 2011 premiership was just his 29th game — he knows that with the list Geelong has put together the time to strike is now.

It is a message he and the more experienced players at GMHBA Stadium have tried to convey to some of their younger teammates, and Duncan said the thought of seeing their dreams fulfilled was what was driving him for further team success.

“It probably means more now than what it did when I was younger, and that is what we try to pass on to the young guys because when you are young you tend to take it for granted a little bit,” he said.

“When you start getting older they are so hard to get to. Gaz has touched on that point a lot, he has missed finals for the last seven years, and he thought he would never get back there.

“So the excitement that has been seen on Gazza’s face and some of our young kids, it brings you up and excites you even more.

“Hearing new stories or imagining stories, two blokes from Ireland (Zach Tuohy and Mark O’Connor) playing in a grand final, Jack Henry coming from his background and what he has done this year, you think of other people’s stories that they could create and you want to help them do that, and because I have been there a little bit you are kind of thinking of other people rather than yourself.

“But at the same time you have got to make sure your own backyard is clean and make sure you perform as well.”

Much has been made this week of Joel Selwood and his finals record but tonight will be Duncan’s 180th game and 15th final — at the same time of his career Selwood had played 19 — so Duncan is tracking reasonably well.

He knows everything is on the line when Geelong takes on the Demons at the MCG tonight and while finishing eighth dictates it is one week at a time for the Cats, he believes they have what it takes to do something special this finals series.

“It is all pretty exciting being back in finals again, it is another great achievement from the footy club and the playing group and, a bit like Joel, I’ve only missed finals once but the real season starts now,” he said.

“The mood has been really positive and we have come in with some really good momentum.

“I think we have carried that through our training and I’m just looking forward to getting out there.

“You are always confident in the cattle that you have got and if you are not going in confident then there is no point really playing.

“We feel like we have got the group to challenge all the sides, we have got the game plan that can put teams under pressure, we can score really quickly and if we can hold them up defensively — which we have shown we can do — we are going to keep ourselves in games for long periods of time.”