Geelong forward Josh Walker believes performances like the one he had against the Western Bulldogs "show the club that I can be a very good player", and wants more games like that to earn him a new deal with the Cats.
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Given he's played 26 games in five years on the Geelong list, is out of contract at year's end, had just been part of a win and smashed his career-high disposal tally, Walker would be forgiven for being more than content 20 minutes after the siren.
But while "thrilled about the win", he wasn't making any outlandish remarks about his own showing.
"It's good to feel like I'm having an impact and belong," he said in the rooms after the game.
Heading into round 16, Walker had never had more than 12 possessions in a game. Against the Cats he had 18 disposals, took eight marks (one short of his previous best) and kicked a goal in his side's eight-point victory.
A smile crept across Walker's face when made aware of his new benchmark. He had sensed he'd seen the Sherrin a bit more than usual.
But just as quickly, Walker stressed he was far from the complete package.
"I'm under no illusions, I've still got plenty of things I can work on both in my attack and my defence."
Josh Caddy deservedly got the headlines from recording his own personal best 37 touches, but Walker's role in the Cat's tall forward triumvirate of which he formed a part wasn't to be ignored. It was just the second time this year that he, Tom Hawkins and Shane Kersten have played together, and it was more due to wastefulness in front of goal than a lack of co-ordination between the three forwards that the Cats didn't kick more than 10 goals.
Scott pointed out how the benefits of extra targets, which he believed would assist Hawkins find his groove after an indifferent first half of the season.
"If [Hawkins] has got two or three players down there next to him that can keep the opposition defenders occupied it helps," Scott said.
Walker said he liked playing as part of the key forward trio, believing they offered variety despite all being taller than 190cm.
"We're all pretty different players."
"As long as we're all willing to defend as well as attack then it can work fine going forward."
The bevy of talls on the Geelong list means that while there is choice for coaches, there is uncertainty for the players involved.
Mitch Clark is due to return within a fortnight, and Rhys Stanley will be back next year, meaning an eventual squeeze for spots both in the side and on the list. Like Walker, Kersten and veteran ruckman Hamish McIntosh are also in the final years of their respective deals.
Walker said that he left talks to his manager, and that all he could do was show his worth on the field.
"You try not to worry about it too much to be honest."
"My job's to play footy."
Judging by Scott's thoughts after the match, Walker is on the right track.
"Josh competed really hard. I thought he marked the ball in a contest when we were under pressure a fair bit especially when we were connecting with our defenders coming out of D50 under a little bit of pressure so that was a real positive."
