The Cairns Post

CATS DUMP MENZEL

- MICHAEL WARNER AND JON RALPH

GEELONG legend Jimmy Bartel last night backed dumped Cat Dan Menzel to find a new home, believing his reputation as a non-tackler unfairly stamped his papers.

The unrestrict­ed free agent was given his marching orders yesterday after four knee reconstruc­tions and 73 games for Geelong.

Menzel, 27, was one of only 21 players in the competitio­n to kick 100 goals across the past three seasons and was fifth in the Coleman Medal race this year before a failed groin injection cruelled his year.

He missed rounds 6-16, with his manager Adam Ramanauska­s saying he had “cortisone leaking into his bones and all sorts of things”.

For all Menzel’s gifts he was ranked as the worst pressure player in the competitio­n of all general forwards and the worst tackler of the mid-sized forwards in the past two years.

But Brownlow medallist Bartel said he was bemused the Cats had sacked him when others in the same forward line had failed to hit the scoreboard.

“I am surprised they have done it, but the positive thing is that maybe now another club will now take him as a delisted free agent,’’ he said.

“The confusing thing for me with Dan Menzel is that he has played 50 games over the last three years, more than some blokes who get carried on some other lists, and he averages two goals a game.

“I’m not sure why he has to always bear the brunt for tackling pressure in the forward line … Nobody else is tackling and nobody else is kicking goals. You have got guys in the forward line who don’t kick goals and don’t tackle either. At least he does one aspect well.”

St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs considered but overlooked Menzel during the free agency period, with no club yet emerging as a suitor.

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