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Cat Tom Lonergan snaps one of his four goals, despite Crow Ben Rutten's attempt to spoil.

Cat's goal is a flag of his own

Dan Silkstone | July 6, 2008

FOR Tom Lonergan, it has been a long time coming. Friday night brought probably his best game in blue hoops and a return of four goals as Geelong swept away Adelaide at AAMI Stadium with a 68-point win.

More importantly, it provided another step forward for a man with eyes fixed on the biggest goal of all.

Last year, Lonergan watched from the stands as his teammates walked away with the cup on that one day in September. For him and others who missed out, such as ruckman Mark Blake, there is extra hunger and determination that this year's team make its own history.

"We were lucky in the reserves to win the grand final too, but obviously you want to do it in the seniors," said the man who kicked six to be best-on-ground in last year's VFL grand final. "Seeing them win the seniors last year was awesome and I just really want to be a part of that."

Mostly, though, Lonergan is happy just to be healthy and playing football. The young key position player has endured a horror period in a career marked more by frustration than glory. On Friday night he played his most eye-catching match for the club that drafted him in 2002.

It wasn't the complete forward's performance, but there was plenty to like. For Lonergan, it was reason to smile and reflect.

"Like a lot of the fringe players, I know I have to keep performing or I'll be out of the side," he said. "I've got a lot of motivating factors, I know how quickly footy can be taken away."

The 24-year-old almost lost his life in 2006 in just his seventh senior game after a sickening clash in the round-21 match against Melbourne resulted in the loss of a kidney.

After considering retirement, Lonergan decided to fight on at AFL level and spent more than a year regaining his health and re-finding his feet on the Cats' rookie list. On Friday night, he was back on the big stage and with growing hopes of landing a premiership medal.

"I've come back from the accident, all the recovery and all the hard work. It's still a long way to go yet. I'm only just at the start (of my recovery), I'm just trying to contribute," he said.

"It's like anything. The more games you get, the more time you spend doing your job, the easier it will get. Each team is pretty hard to come up against and Adelaide is no exception."

Asked about his forward line after the game, coach Mark Thompson singled out Lonergan.

"It was good, young Lonergan," he said. "It's a remarkable story isn't it? Losing a kidney and he looked pretty stuffed and now to be playing good footy."

The injury is healed but the time away from the game has left him behind where he would have been. There are not too many guys who have been in the system for five years and played only 14 senior games.

"I was out of footy for almost a year." he said. "Each game I'm trying to do more things and contribute more to the team. I have to keep working on my game."

His four goals included a couple of easy handouts but there were also some class moments. Wheeling around to snap across the body from 40 metres, strong on the lead and holding some tough grabs out in front. Lonergan led hard all night, hands out and midriff exposed, snagging five good grabs inside the arc. It takes confidence to open yourself to the hit when you have witnessed first-hand the damage that can result.

As September approaches, he is expected to battle with Tom Hawkins for a key forward spot. "Tommy has been playing great," he said. "Probably my biggest goal is just trying to stay in the side."