SAM DE KONING has emphatically ended the debate.

For years, it was an argument that would have raged at Geelong. Given the flexibility and importance of Mark Blicavs, where was he best used? In the backline? In the ruck? On a wing? Through the midfield? Finally, thanks to the arrival and impact of De Koning as one of the game's most brilliant young key defenders, that question can be put to rest.

As Cats coach Chris Scott said after Saturday night's victory over Carlton, Blicavs is a midfielder who can defend. Having the 21-year-old De Koning there, though, means he is no longer needed down back either. Blicavs' position, at least for Geelong's premiership charge later this season, has been sorted.

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But, as one debate ends, another should emerge. How is a player as gifted in so many roles as Blicavs, who has won best and fairests in completely separate positions, and who continues to add more strings to his bow at age 31, not got an All-Australian blazer to his name? This year, finally, might be the season where that changes.

For so long, Blicavs has been Geelong's 198cm and 101kg go-go gadget weapon. He claimed his first Carji Greeves Medal in 2015 playing predominantly as a ruckman, and his next in 2018 having been used mainly as a key defender. Perhaps not since Adam Goodes, a player who was named All-Australian on a wing, in the ruck and through the forward line, has a footballer thrived in such a variety of different roles.

MARK BLICAVS TIME PER POSITION

This season has seen Blicavs used – and has seen him excel – in just about every significant position. Having been played mainly in a key defensive post through the season's first six weeks – Champion Data notes he spent more than 81.4 percent of games as a key defender in four of the side's first six matches – De Koning's emergence has seen the Cats veteran shifted more through the middle of the ground.

Three times in the next four weeks after that stretch as a key defender, Blicavs played as an out-and-out ruckman. For three successive games after that period in the ruck, he was used for more than 50 percent of games as a wingman. In the last fortnight, as Geelong has engineered potentially season-defining wins over premiership threats Melbourne and Carlton, he has spent the bulk of his time as a pure midfielder and has performed dutiful shutdown roles on Christian Petracca and Patrick Cripps.

While his versatility can, in some respects, make his All-Australian case hard to judge – in what position do you list him on the field? – it's clear that Blicavs hasn't just capably adjusted to the aforementioned role changes. He's surged among the best players in the competition for each role.

Champion Data suggests his predominant position this year has been as a ruckman, given he's spent 41.3 percent of games in that role. Geelong's clearance differential with Blicavs in the ruck is currently +53 this season, ranked third behind Tim English (+57) at the Western Bulldogs and Darcy Fort (+55) at Brisbane.

His secondary position is currently listed as a key defender, having spent 29.5 percent of games in that role. From 19 contests defended, his loss rate of just 10.5 percent is ranked second in the League behind only Fremantle's Griffin Logue (9.7 percent) and marginally ahead of Melbourne's Steven May (11.5 percent) in third.

This season, Champion Data notes that Blicavs' AFL Player Rating points are ahead of the League-wide average for rucks (+0.3), key defenders (+2.8), wings (+3.5) and midfielders (+0.6). The only position where he's beneath the AFL average is during his brief stint as a forward (-2.2). That should be no surprise, though, given he's spent just nine minutes in attack all year.

BLICAVS' PERFORMANCE BY POSITION (2022)

But it's no flash in the pan, either. Champion Data suggests Blicavs' dominance in each and every position he's played, regardless of how varied those roles have been, has stretched back for the last five seasons.

Remarkably, Blicavs ranks above the AFL-wide average in AFL Player Ratings points as a key defender (+0.9), ruck (+0.6) and as a wingman (+1.9) dating all the way back to the start of the 2018 season. Break down those stats more forensically and the readings get better for the former steeplechase and middle-distance runner.

Compared alongside the top-80 defenders – both key position and general – over the last five years, Blicavs has defended a total of 245 contests. His loss rate of just 18.8 percent is ranked third during that stretch, behind only Carlton's Liam Jones (16.3 percent) and former Greater Western Sydney veteran Heath Shaw (17.2 percent).

As a ruckman during that same five-year stretch, Blicavs has competed in 1536 contests. The club's clearance differential of +119 from those contests is equal-second with Collingwood's Brodie Grundy. Only Melbourne's Max Gawn (+166) is ahead of them.

But what makes Blicavs' record so impressive when compared with Gawn and Grundy is that both have competed in far more contests – 3402 and 3661 respectively – than the Geelong man.

Compared with his fellow Cats rucks, there's no question why Scott and the club's coaching staff continually turns to him out of the middle. The side's clearance differential of +119 with Blicavs in the ruck towers over Zac Smith (+16), Esava Ratugolea (+5), Rhys Stanley (-11) and Tom Hawkins (-50) over the last five seasons.

BLICAVS' PERFORMANCE BY POSITION (2018-22)

Even on a wing, Blicavs ranks 12th among all players to have featured in the position since 2018. His AFL Player Ratings points per 100 minutes in the wing role (10.5) ranks favourably with the League's leaders in Jordan Dawson (13.6), Jack Sinclair (11.9) and Josh Kelly (11.7) throughout that same time.

De Koning's arrival has meant one less position for Blicavs to worry about recently. It's also given Scott the freedom to flex his most crucial asset either through the ruck, on a wing, or in the midfield depending on the week and the opponent.

There's no doubt Blicavs will be set for more crucial jobs come September. By then, given the multitude of roles the Geelong star has mastered over the last five seasons – and this year, in particular – surely an All-Australian blazer will be included in his list of career achievements.