He was once dubbed a "bad egg" by a former coach but Tom Lonergan will hope to splatter arguably the game's greatest forward in Friday night's semi-final against the Sydney Swans.
Lonergan, 33, will step out for what will be his 209th game, his last should the Cats lose at the MCG. It would also be the final game for fellow premiership veteran Andrew Mackie, for both are retiring.
![Tom Lonergan will retire at the end of the season.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170918044127im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/y/h/8/c/h/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gygvuz.png/1505381720765.jpg)
Coach Chris Scott said the Cats wanted to extend the careers of the pair for at least another week.
"That's a fact and we would love to keep going. What they wouldn't want me to do is talk about our primary motivation is to keep them alive this year," he said.
![Tom Lonergan battles with Lance Franklin during Buddy's Hawthorn days.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170918044127im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/k/p/c/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gygvuz.png/1505381720765.jpg)
"They want us to talk about our primary motivation being team based. They are playing well and giving ourselves a chance to progress."
While it is a team-based sport, it's the individual match-ups that can make or break premiership hopes. Lonergan's is probably the toughest on Friday night, for he almost certainly will be given the job of trying to curb Lance Franklin, who has 21 goals in his past four matches and has been going at better than 70 per cent scoring accuracy.Â
Lonergan has a strong record against the Coleman medallist, holding him to four goals in their past three meetings. This included restricting him to eight possessions and a mark in round 20 on what otherwise was a dirty night for the undermanned Cats compounded by an ankle injury to Joel Selwood and suspensions to Tom Hawkins and Mitch Duncan.
So, what is his secret when dealing with Buddy? That's something Scott won't discuss.
![The Cats and Swans will go head to head in what could be another chapter in the rivalry between the two clubs.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170918044127im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/y/c/1/s/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gygvuz.png/1505471003510.jpg)
"I think he hates me talking about it. No one, no one in the history of the game should talk about how they dominate Lance Franklin. It's best left unsaid," he said.
Former teammate Jimmy Bartel says Lonergan's discipline has helped to give him the edge.
"He has the height and underrated athleticism to go with him," he said.
Franklin is 199 centimetres and 106 kilograms. The no-nonsense Lonergan is 197cm and 95kgs. What he concedes in muscle he makes up for in body position and savvy. Where Franklin can get hold of some opponents by burning them off with slick leads from full-forward or pushing further up the ground, Lonergan can tame him - as best as anyone can - in this area.
He has the height and under-rated athleticism to go with him.
Jimmy Bartel on Tom Lonergan and his battle with Lance Franklin
That Lonergan was once a forward may also help him understand the leading the patterns of his opponent.
He also has courage, his story of losing his right kidney in a sickening clash with Melbourne forward Brad Miller at Simonds Stadium in 2006 - in only his seventh game - the stuff of legend. He was put in an induced coma for five days and had life-saving surgery.
"The kidney won't be saved. Your life hangs in the balance as the blood keeps pouring out," Lonergan recalled this week.
That he has never been nominated as the league's toughest player has baffled some, including Demons great Garry Lyon. The prominent commentator said on SEN in July that Lonergan should have won multiple Robert Rose trophies, the honour bestowed upon the most courageous player by his peers at the AFL Players' Association awards night.
"This man should have won the past 11 awards and should be a walk-up start to win his 12th this year," Lyon said.
"(After losing his kidney), returning to an AFL field sometime in the future was a fairy tale. He's not only done that but he has added a premiership and close to 200 more games."
Lonergan was overlooked again for the award this week -Â Adelaide's Rory Sloane claiming it ahead of Selwood.
That won't bother Lonergan, who this week penned a letter to his younger self on the AFLPAÂ website. In it, the Yarrawonga lad who was the 23rd pick in the 2002 national draft recalls being the "social kid from the country who enjoys a good time with the boys".
To the point former coach Mark Thompson began to lose patience with him.
"'Bomber' Thompson will even threaten to send you home and call you out as a 'bad egg' in front of the playing group. It's important to have fun, but don't get carried away," Lonergan said.
"You were drafted for a reason. Work hard and make them gain your respect early in your career -Â respect is more important than being liked. Believe in yourself, because you belong. Four years into your career and you've only played four games. After game number five, you're dropped and it feels like that could be it. But don't stop fighting."
Lonergan wouldn't, and he was rewarded with a premiership in 2011. Another '"fighting" effort on Friday night could have him heading towards another.