Lions star grateful for ‘hard-earned’ milestone

Lions forward Linc McCarthy doubted whether he was “made for the game” when he left Geelong to make a fresh start in Brisbane at the end of the 2018 AFL season.

And with good reason. During an injury-riddled seven years with the Cats, McCarthy played just 29 top-flight games.

“I found myself in a bit of a rut, and I was really questioning whether I was made for the game, to be honest,” McCarthy said.

However, those doubts have been well and truly erased at the Lions, where he has played in 120 of the club’s 124 AFL matches since the start of 2019.

“The original goal for me (when joining the Lions) was just to see if I can get back and play footy again,” McCarthy said ahead of his 150th AFL appearance on Thursday night against the GWS Giants in Canberra.

“I’m really stoked to be able to get to 150 – I didn’t think I’d get to 50.

“I’m just really thankful for all the medicos and all the support crew in Brisbane

“Life’s changed a lot for myself and my partner since moving up. We’ve really settled into Brisbane. We love the club, we love the state, we love Brisbane.

“We’ve got three boys now as well … and they’re all making the trip down to Canberra, so it’s going to be a nice (night), and hopefully the main thing is we get the win.”

Lions coach Chris Fagan said McCarthy was a “real team player”.

“He had a lot of trouble with his body at Geelong,” Fagan said of the 30-year-old Bordertown product.

“I’m pretty sure he would have played a lot more games. I know he was rated really highly by the Cats.

“If you wanted to show a young player what a real team player looks like, Linc is a shining example of that. We’ve got others but he’s up there with the best.

“He’s always prepared to play a role for the team. He does all the little things in footy that you love players to do.

“He’s a cheerful bloke around the club. He’s always optimistic. He just checks on people. He’s a natural carer.

“It’s great for him that he’s playing his 150th (game). It’s been hard-earned because it could easily be well over 200 by now if injury hadn’t got in the way.

“We’ve got good fortune since he’s been at our club. He hasn’t had too many injuries and we’ve had the benefit of him being in our team just about every week.”

The Lions are intent on bouncing back from last Saturday’s 26-point loss to the Cats. It was Brisbane’ fourth defeat in six games this season.

“You’ve definitely seen a lift in our effort and our pressure. We just want to capitalise on those efforts now,” McCarthy said.

“We want to bring a bit more composure into our game, (and) really punish sides with the way we move the ball.

“We still think when we’re at our best we can beat anyone. We’ve just got to keep putting that together for longer periods.”