Geelong Cats: Chris Scott makes call on rebuild talks
Geelong has missed finals for just the second time since 2006, and with an ageing list, Cats coach Chris Scott has answered questions about a potential rebuild.
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Cats coach Chris Scott does not envisage a mass exodus at the club after missing out on finals for just the second time since 2006.
Heading into a must-win clash against the Saints, Geelong needed victories in rounds 23 and 24 in order to seal a top-eight finish, but the reigning premiers were blown away by a clinical St Kilda outfit.
After the 33-point loss on Saturday night, Scott said the club would plan for the future, but he did not expect the Cats to be “terrible”.
“In my mind it always is (focused on playing finals), you’ve got two priorities: make sure you do what you can for the longer term, but never at the expense of playing as well as you possibly can,” he said.
“I’ve always found it hard to work out whether it’s going to be good enough, and we’ll work through this over the next couple of months.
“But we’re not looking at it thinking we need to be terrible for a few years to then improve, I don’t think we’re at that stage.
“But it is an even comp, there are only a few teams in the traditional rebuild at the moment, the others have been doing it for a while and therefore are now pretty good.”
Winger Isaac Smith has already announced his retirement at the end of the season, with the round 24 clash against the Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium set to be his last game of his glittering AFL career.
In addition to Smith, Geelong has six players over the age of 30 that are out of contract at the end of the season, with another five out of contract next season as well.
While legendary forward Tom Hawkins has expressed his desires to play on in 2024, he is currently without a contract, while Zach Tuohy, Rhys Stanley, Gary Rohan, Jon Ceglar and Sam Menegola are all yet to sign extensions.
Skipper Patrick Dangerfield, vice captain Tom Stewart, gun Mitch Duncan, midfielder Cam Guthrie and defender Jed Bews, who will be 30 at the start of next season, are all contracted until the end of 2024.
Scott said the future team was taking shape, with fans getting their first look of the season at Shannon Neale in the past two rounds.
“He (Shannon Neale) is one of the players that give us reason to be optimistic,” he said.
“Even with the issues we had, getting a lot of footy into Ollie Henry and Jack Bowes and Tanner Bruhn (has been positive).
“We made decisions last year that weren’t about 2023 necessarily, they were about the future and I thought with the addition of Shannon Neale there are other players as well.
“(Max) Holmes is a better player than he was (at the start of the season) in my opinion and will continue to get better.”
Originally published as Geelong Cats: Chris Scott makes call on rebuild talks
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