Geelong assistant coach Steven King sheds light on midfield roles, Toby Conway injury issue

Bailey Smith is the second most popular player in SuperCoach, and Geelong’s midfield coach has outlined his role. Plus, three important Cats face delayed starts to the season.

Geelong midfield coach Steven King is confident injury-riddled ruckman Toby Conway can be a player of the future for the Cats despite being perennially sidelined as three key Cats are in doubt for the early rounds of the season.

Conway, who suffered a back disc blow while coughing in bed, luckless veteran Cam Guthrie (Achilles) and dynamic forward Shaun Manangh (foot) have all been ruled out for Geelong’s four-quarter match simulation against Hawthorn next Monday and face delayed starts to their 2025 campaign.

Free agency signing Jack Martin is “touch and go” for opening round as the Cats look to build his injury-prone body for the season ahead but the forward did play a half of match simulation on Monday.

Jack Martin is touch and go for Geelong’s season opener. Picture: Mark Wilson

King said another handful of draftees will be unavailable for the Cats’ match simulation clash with Hawthorn.

Conway’s injury means 204 centimetre tall Sam De Koning is poised to receive minutes in the ruck in their pre-season matches with the Cats to be flexible with him, 34-year-old Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs.

Conway, 21, has played just 23 VFL and AFL matches combined in his three seasons at Geelong and underwent foot surgery over the off-season after his 2024 campaign was ended by another foot stress fracture.

The 206 centimetre big man then innocuously picked up a back disc issue after coughing in bed according to King, with Conway a notable absentee on the track throughout the pre-season.

But King, a star ruckman across 240 games for Geelong and St Kilda, has high hopes for Conway.

Toby Conway at training in February. Picture: Mark Wilson

“I think it was really exciting to see what Toby did last year for us and I think once he gets a good run at it, I think he can play a lot of footy for this footy club and at a high level,” King said.

“So that’s exciting for us in the future.

“It’s obviously a challenge for ‘Tobes’, he hasn’t had a great run at it. Off-season surgery on his foot and then just had a disc issue, I think it was in bed sort of coughing something pretty innocuous that obviously happened.

“So we just have to take our time with Toby, Toby’s a very valuable commodity for us, so we just make sure he’s right.

“Obviously not just the back but the whole body we reload him in a manner that I think looks after Toby long term.”

Captain Patrick Dangerfield declared in December that Guthrie would be like a “new recruit” in 2025 but his timeline remains unclear with his Achilles which has continued to trouble him this pre-season.

Guthrie trained on Thursday but went off to the sidelines when the Cats began full-ground match play.

The dual Carji Greeves medallist pressed for AFL preliminary final selection in September by returning for Geelong’s final VFL game and has managed just 10 AFL games since the Cats’ 2022 premiership.

Cam Guthrie at training on Thursday. Picture: Michael Klein

“I think he’s just had a bit of Achilles soreness. It’s just been popping up every now and then when his loads increase, so I think the next week we’ll sort of determine where he’s at and how far that will be,” King said.

“Until that I sort of can’t really comment.”

King said Martin will push for opening round selection but the club will continue to take a cautious approach with the former Blue and Sun.

“If it was going to be a six-quarter game (against Hawthorn) we would have seen Jack play at least two or three of those quarters but he might be one where we’ve got to work out, ‘is he a realistic option for opening round, or do we just make sure we do the right thing by him?’ King said.

“We have probably been putting more of a focus on strength and rebuilding Jack’s body a little bit to withstand the rigours of what the season is ahead for him.

“So he’s one that will be touch and go for round zero availability but he’s trained to lot for us already this pre-season.

“We’ve been really excited by what he’s been able to produce for us. So our priority is to have Jack available for the next couple of years, not just for one or one month of football.”

UNCERTAIN CENTRE BOUNCE MIX

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King said boom recruit Bailey Smith – currently the second most popular player in the game – is set to play a variety of midfield and forward roles in his first season at the Cats.

Smith racked up plenty of the footy in Friday’s match simulation and has upped his training in the New Year off the back of his knee reconstruction and a minor hamstring injury.

“’Baz’ has been going well. I mean we probably had to hold Baz back a bit but he’s come in, high intensity, he’s done a lot,” King said.

“He’s probably been unrestricted since Christmas, so he’s been finding a lot of the footy and just getting his head around playing different roles for us in a different system. But, he’s going to be great for what he can do for us as a club.

“I think Bailey is someone who is unique where he can play inside and outside. So for us, I think we’ll just tap into that. I think you’ll see him play inside, bit of wing, bit of forward, try and just spin the numbers through the middle of the ground a little bit.

“But certainly he’ll be helping us transition the footy up down the ground.”

Bailey Smith is set to play a variety of roles. Picture: Michael Klein

The Cats will also continue to use reigning best and fairest Max Holmes’ versatility to their advantage and have the option to throw five-time All-Australian Tom Stewart into the midfield as they did last season.

“I think what Max gives us, he’s a key part of our team and what we’re trying to do. So if we need a spike anywhere in the ground I think that’s another option – pretty similar to Bailey Smith – we’ll try and put him there, he is pretty explosive,” King said.

“So I think Max is great around the footy but he’s also pretty dominant at halfback as well for us so I think you’ll see Max play a couple of different roles for us and he’s excited by that.”

Expect to see 193cm midfielder Mitch Knevitt to figure in calculations as well.

King doesn’t like to individualise but he feels the 22-year-old can elevate his game after a bumper pre-season training solely as an inside midfielder.

Mitch Knevitt has impressed on the track. Picture: Michael Klein

“I hate singling players out and to put pressure on them, but if you look at the evidence of some of our players that have done every session, that have been unconditional and the way they’ve gone about it now, ‘Knev’ is certainly one of those,” King said.

“I think Oisin Mullin, Knev, you get bits of Mitch Edwards that jump up, but I think (Knevitt’s) form at VFL level has been outstanding.

“He’s someone now I think that is ready to take his chance and we are going to need players like him to raise the floor in our program to take the next step to be a premiership team again.”

Uncapped ruck Mitch Edwards is another who has caught the eye of King this pre-season but his development will be prioritised in 2025.

The 206cm West Australian showed off his exciting attributes in match simulation last week when he clunked a towering mark over a pack and then dodged past the man on the mark.

Edwards, De Koning and Stanley all had stints in the ruck during that session and King said their ruck plans are yet to be finalised.

“We’ve got options there, we know what ‘Scotty’s’ like, having as much flexibility in the team as we can and we feel like we’ve got enough players to be able to do that,” King said.

“I think Mitch Edwards is one that’s jumped up a little bit. He’s had a great pre-season showing signs, but again, hasn’t played a lot of football yet.

“So we’ll make sure his growth and development is probably a priority over a short term hit of just playing. We’ll make sure we sit down and work out what that right balance is with him and all our rucks.”

Originally published as Geelong assistant coach Steven King sheds light on midfield roles, Toby Conway injury issue