Lonergan to play

[re cat]

SEN have just said Tom will play this week in the curtain raiser.
Good lock.:thumbsu::thumbsu:

[CatmanForever]

Good to see Tom back...expect to see him only play a half tho.

[re cat]

Good to see Tom back...expect to see him only play a half tho.
Had better get out of the nest very early to catch the start then.;)

[Tommy the Cat]

he's either crazy, or he's got a ton of guts





I don't think he's crazy :)

[Metallica_Man]

Good luck Tom, great to see him back

[thegerman]

Good luck big fella, hope all goes well and you get back into it like you left it, full of heart and passion for your team.

[Hunters Host #3]

Good luck to Tommy..
Ex Assumption gun, and lets hope he can get successfully back on track.
All the best:thumbsu:

[Catdog]

Great effort Tom Gutsy stuff all the best :thumbsu::thumbsu::thumbsu:

[MmkMrMackie]

And there's the motivation the players need for the second half of the season.! Go Tommy. Go cats!

[fugsy]

Great news! Expect him to get a huge reception. Good on ya Lonners :thumbsu::D

[Copernicus]

Big effort from him if he does play. Hope he goes well, good luck to him.

[winty]

Awesome news. Was going to head down around 11am on Sunday. Gives me an excuse to head down an hour or so earlier now. :thumbsu:

[Shell]

Article from The Herald Sun today:

Scott Gullan and Mark Robinson

June 13, 2007 12:00am
TOM Lonergan will wear a special guard when he returns to the field on Sunday, less than 10 months after losing a kidney in a sickening on-field collision.
The Cat will play half a game in the VFL curtain-raiser against Tasmania at Skilled Stadium before the Geelong-Brisbane game.
Coach Mark Thompson said everyone had been amazed at how quickly Lonergan had got himself back on the football field.
"For Tommy and for everyone around the football club and his family, it's a great story," he said.
"It was a real sad place when he got hurt -- you send boys out there to play footy and risk injury, but you don't see very often that someone sacrifices a kidney.
"The doctors have been amazed with how quickly he has recovered. He has done fantastic things off the field to get his life in order and now we can get to see him play again."
Club doctor Chris Bradshaw said the 23-year-old had trained for a month with a special guard to protect his remaining kidney.
"It is custom-made. He's comfortable with it and it gives him a bit of confidence," he said.
He praised Lonergan's attitude after emergency surgery that stripped 17kg from his frame.
"He has done really well because when he started training in the pre-season, he was a bit of a shadow of his former self," Bradshaw said.
"He doesn't look like he is someone different any more.
"He has been doing mock pressure and tackling work for the past month.
"We've taken it softly, softly with him but, from a medical perspective, his body is back to where it was."
In just his seventh AFL game, Lonergan was seriously injured when he backed into a pack during the Cats' Round 21 clash against Melbourne.
He was rushed to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma and had his right kidney removed.

GEELONG'S bid to keep a lid on anything that could rock the boat has moved to player contracts.
The top-of-the-table Cats have put off most contract talks with player managers until after the season.
It's believed the Cats have up to 15 players up for renewal.
Six "priorities" would likely be completed just before the finals, with the others addressed after the season.
The club is firm no contracts will be discussed during the finals, if indeed, the club makes it that far.
The priorities include key forwards Cameron Mooney and Steve Johnson.
Cats chief executive Brian Cook yesterday confirmed the club's change from last year.
"We've got a more wait-and-see attitude after last year," Cook said.
He described last year as the "performance of people, all of us".
"There's been a little bit of shift, we're a bit more patient," Cook said.
"We'll probably have to go with the priority players before the finals and there's probably half a dozen."
The Cats are operating close to 100 per cent of the salary cap and anticipate the same next season.
Those players not out of contract this year include Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel

Good luck Lonners!! :):thumbsu:

[JoeLCatS]

What a gutsy kid! love him think his awesome. Good Luck Lonners all the best for the game mate!:thumbsu:

[Jim Boy]

Checked the age only to be confronted with this misleading headline:-

Loner jailed for murdering father

[catattack]

Really good article by Jennifer Witham on the Geelong website here (http://www.gfc.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=3933&newsId=44975).

[beaser]

Im sure all footy supporters wish Tom all the best..what a great effort