GEELONG defender Corey Enright is the type of player who likes to fly under the radar.
Given his footballing resume includes three premierships, two club best and fairest awards and four selections in the All Australian team, it is remarkable that for most of his career he's been able to do just that.
Enright's relatively low profile is a key reason why the news that a knee injury will keep him out of the Cats' semi-final clash with Port Adelaide on Friday night has failed to have a significant impact on the betting markets.
However, many astute footy watchers regard the boy from Kimba in South Australia, who turns 32 on Saturday, as Geelong's most important player.
One highly-regarded former AFL assistant coach this week told AFL.com.au that the Cats were never going to beat Fremantle in their qualifying final once Enright was subbed out at half-time.
Over the course of his 266-game career, Enright's brilliant decision-making, ability to read the play and clean ball-handling have been his great strengths.
He is also flexible in the kinds of roles he can play. In round 20 he shut down Port Adelaide dynamo Chad Wingard when the Cats defeated the Power at Simonds Stadium.
Wingard went into that match in great form, having booted five goals against Adelaide the previous weekend, but Enright held him to just one.
Impressively, Enright not only kept his man quiet, he also picked up 27 disposals and seven marks himself.
"His balance between attack and defence is something that's really hard to do, but he does it perfectly most weeks," his teammate James Kelly recently told CatsTV.
So, what do the stats tell us about Enright's importance to Chris Scott's team?
In 2013, he has …
- Taken 53 marks inside defensive 50, which is the fifth-best tally of any player in the competition.
- Taken 15 intercept marks, which puts him second at Geelong behind Harry Taylor.
- Recorded a disposal efficiency of 78.4 per cent, which is the best of the top-10 ball-winners at the Cats.
- Tallied 185 handball receives, which puts him fifth at Geelong.
- Won 128 contested possessions, which is the ninth-best tally at the Cats.
- Registered 19 score assists, which puts him eighth at Geelong.
Clearly, Enright is a player who is just about impossible to replace. And not only will the Cats miss his brilliance around the ball, they'll miss his leadership as well.
As Scott said earlier this season, "There would be no one more respected than 'Boris' within the Geelong footy club."
