WHILE it was a surprise to most onlookers, Sam De Koning had a little bit of notice of his surprise ruck stint against Sydney, and enjoyed the freedom that is afforded to the role.
The 22-year-old key defender supported Mark Blicavs when Jon Ceglar was a late withdrawal, after the latter's partner had a baby.
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De Koning had 11 hitouts, 10 disposals and six marks, rotating between the backline and the on-ball role, which brother Tom plays at Carlton.
"I trained a little bit of it earlier in the week, just to get prepared. I like to think I'm the type of player who can play different positions, wherever 'Scotty' (coach Chris Scott) wants me, I can play," De Koning told afl.com.au.
"Got the green light on that and tried my best. I just had a go, and we went well, so it was good.
"I like playing footy, but being around the ball all the time is a pretty exciting thing and it keeps me in the game. But as I said, any position 'Scotty' wants me to play is good for me."
De Koning has had a rough start to the season, missing round four through concussion, also dealing with a knee injury in round one's loss to Collingwood and copping a big knock against Carlton the following week.
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With the Cats coasting to a thumping 93-point win over Sydney, De Koning admitted it was hard not to enter self-preservation mode when the game was well and truly in the bag.
"I've had a couple of weeks now getting through games, which is good," he said.
"It's hard to not think about it when we're up by so much in the last quarter, you don't want something to happen, but it's good to put a couple of games together and get my body right.
"Hopefully it flows throughout the season, and I've got the bad little patch out of the way early."
Construction prevented Geelong from hosting a game at GMHBA Stadium before the weekend's round six clash, meaning the Cats unfurled their premiership flag in the lead-up to the game against Grand Final opponent Sydney.
De Koning was just happy to be back home.
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"We don't really talk about [the Grand Final rematch] too much, 'Scotty' likes to keep it pretty present. We go into the week looking at what they're good at, and they're a really good team," he said.
"I thought we went out there and executed really well. We don't really pay into it too much, but we remember how the club has gotten into the position it has, and we really respect the players, staff and board who have come before us. It's really good to be in the position that we are, and I'm just lucky to be playing a game.
"There's nothing better than being home. I woke up this morning, and walked my dog on the beach, had a look at the surf, got a coffee and just moseyed on up to the ground.
"It's only 20-minute drive from Torquay for me, so it's good to be home and not have to travel. It's just a great place to be and we think we can play it really well."
