It is the national game in every sense of the word. Football has spread all over the country kick started by the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears joining in the late 1980’s and the Adelaide Crows in the early 1990’s. Matches are played in every state and territory in the country. Supporters come from all over the country as well, with the Cats possessing supporter groups in Adelaide, Canberra, Perth and a new one forming in Tasmania.

With football being played all over the country that means the recruitment base available to the clubs is immense. On any weekend throughout the year you will find club recruiters watching youngsters plying their trade on grounds all over the country. For the hundreds of hours of flying around the country, they may unearth one gem that makes those long flights and tedious hours sitting in airport lounges all worthwhile.

So let’s have a look where our current crop of Cats have arrived from:

GFL/Falcons/ Geelong VFL

Jimmy Bartel

Mark Blake

Gary Ablett Jnr

Matthew Scarlett

Simon Hogan

Cameron Ling

Allen Christensen

Ben Johnson

James Podsiadly

South Australia

Andrew Mackie

Travis Varcoe

Ryan Gamble

Mathew Stokes

Corey Enright

Daniel Menzel

Adam Varcoe

Jesse Stringer

Western Australia

Harry Taylor

Joel Corey

Mitch Duncan

Tasmania

Tom Allwright

NSW/ACT

Ranga Ediriwickrama

Northern Territory

Nathan Djerrkura

Steven Motlop

Country Victoria

Max Rooke

Ex-AFL

Brad Ottens

Cameron Mooney

Marcus Drum

Dandenong Stingrays

Tom Gillies

Gippsland Power

David Wojcinski

Trent West

Nathan Vardy

Jack Weston

Bendigo Pioneers

Joel Selwood

Josh Hunt

Sandringham Dragons

Tom Hawkins

Mitch Brown

Taylor Hunt

Calder Cannons

James Kelly

Tom Lonergan

Paul Chapman

Jeremy Laidler

Darren Milburn

Murray Bushrangers

Dawson Simpson

Shannon Byrnes

Steve Johnson

North Ballarat

Josh Cowan

With Queensland the only state not represented on the Cats list, they have a tremendous breadth of talent from all across the country. With Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney entering the competition in the coming years the need to look far are wide has never been greater. Perhaps in the coming years the Cats will get their first player not from the continent of Australia.