Milestone for McLaughlin
BY ALEX TIGANI
Muswellbrook Cat Mark McLaughlin will never forget the margin of his 150th match.
The Cats’ stalwart ran on to Weeraman Field with high expectations earlier this month and returned to celebrate a 208-point win over the Maitland Saints.
He became the fifth player to reach the milestone in club history.
“I expected an easy win but not by over 200 points,” Muswellbrook Cat Mark McLaughlin explained.
“We had a few games with that margin against us but this was our first in my time.”
McLaughlin first pulled on the blue and white hoops in 2009, returning to the game after a junior career with the Howlong Spiders.
He also played a handful of games with Singleton in the second half of the 2020 AFL Hunter Central Coast season after the Cats’ pulled out of the competition due to covid-19.
However he has always remained a true Muswellbrook Cat as a regular committee member since 2010.
This year he has served the club as a vice president and hopes to finish the season with a premiership in the AFL Black Diamond Shield competition.
“The boys are looking good for the remainder of the year as long as injuries don’t strike,” he concluded.
“We still have a about half a dozen or so quality players to come back into the line-up so spots are going to be hard to lock down.
The Cats will hope to bounce back from their narrow four-point loss when they take on Newcastle City this Saturday.
“If we can get our strongest side on the paddock together we will be very hard to beat,” he concluded.
| AFL HUNTER CENTRAL COAST FIXTURE | |
| Round 15 – Saturday, July 30 | |
| MEN’S CUP | 2:35pm – Terrigal Avoca Panthers vs. Singleton Roosters (Hylton Moore Oval) |
| WOMEN’S CUP | 12:45pm – Terrigal Avoca Panthers vs. Singleton Roosterettes (Hylton Moore Oval) |
| MEN’S SHIELD | 4:50pm – Newcastle City vs. Muswellbrook Cats (Hawkins Oval) |