TOM didn’t see it coming. 

When the teams were announced on Thursday night and Rhys Stanley was out of the Geelong line-up, Tom De Koning had a similar train of thought to most. 

Readying himself for a night opposed to the versatile Mark Blicavs in the ruck, De Koning got quite the shock at the opening bounce. 

While Blicavs did head into the centre square, he stationed himself next to Patrick Cripps — a role the Cat had played for. Coming De Koning’s way instead just happened to be his younger brother.

A smile appeared on the faces of both brothers, followed by a shove and a not-so-quiet whisper from the older brother. 

Then, it was on.

“I wasn’t expecting him to be in the ruck. It was a pleasant surprise, I loved the battle against him,” Tom told Channel 7 post-match.

“I had a bit of a laugh when he ran in there, I was like ‘this is going to be great’. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, I thought [Blicavs] would be in there for sure.

“I’m happy with the way it turned out: it was a good battle, hopefully we can have a few more.”

Having pinch-hit in the ruck for the Cats in the past, Sam didn’t disgrace himself by any means with 20 disposals — but Tom got the last laugh on the night, both in the individual and team battle.

For the second straight game, nobody on the MCG was more influential than Carlton’s ruckman, collecting another career-high for contested possessions (20), equalling his career-high for disposals (25), winning seven clearances himself while kicking the first goal of the game in direct opposition to his younger brother.

The reaction from mum Jackie - and little reaction from dad Terry - in the stands said it all.

“They would’ve been going crazy. The whole family’s up there, we got 15 tickets this week.

“They would’ve loved the whole game, it was great to get the win this time.”

The ledger is now square at two apiece for battles between the De Koning brothers, with Tom hopeful of further meetings with his brother — whether that’s in future years, or even in September.

But for the Blues to get there and make an impact, few are more pivotal than one of the in-form players of the competition.

“I know my role back to front now. I’ve got the trust of my teammates, and I’ve got utmost trust in them to get their jobs done.

“That helps me a lot. I’m really enjoying my footy at the moment.”