Geelong’s Jack Bowes shift to defence, what’s pleased him about the side’s form

Unheralded Cat Jack Bowes continues to be a valuable utility to coach Chris Scott as he opens up on his magnet thrown around and the impressive form of a teammate.

Geelong’s Jack Bowes has played the majority of his time in defence after Round 1. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

Jack Bowes sees his role within the Cats side as “pretty fluid” after being told just before the start of the Easter Monday clash he would be starting at half back against Hawthorn.

Bowes was traded to the Cats as a midfielder with pick seven – which was used to acquire young onballer Jhye Clark – but has become a versatile asset for senior coach Chris Scott.

The 27-year-old was famously courted by both Essendon – the Bombers offered him James Hird’s famous number 5 jumper – and Hawthorn during the 2022 trade period before opting for Kardinia Park.

Bowes, who again played in defence against the Hawks on Monday after a clear shift in position after Round 1, prided himself on his versatility, picking up eight of his 12 touches in the third term as Hawthorn produced its most offensive quarter of the match.

In fact, Bowes has played close to 50 per cent of his time this year in defence and less than a third in the middle, but it was the first time this year on Monday he played every minute of game time down back.

The Cats started the season without Jed Bews and Jake Kolodjashnij while Tom Stewart and Jack Henry have been sidelined with injury at different stage.

It comes after the former Gold Coast Sun spent 80 per cent of his time across the centre line in 2024.

Jack Bowes and Patrick Dangerfield celebrate a goal against Adelaide. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“I like to see my role as pretty fluid within the team,” Bowes said.

“Whatever I can do to help the team win games of footy, that’s what I’m out here to do. Just before the game I was told I was playing half back.

“We threw a few magnets around and it worked out well.”

Bowes said Monday’s game had a “finals-type atmosphere” with pressure around the footy extremely high, while praising the defensive efforts of Tyson Stengle who laid four tackles for the game.

While Stengle has been relatively down on goals in 2025, no Geelong forward has applied more tackles this year than the former Crow and Tiger.

“I feel like we’re in a pretty good space at the moment, defensively it was really pleasing,” he said.

“They had a few more inside 50s but we were able to force them into some turnovers in our forward half and we were able to score off that.”

Geelong’s Tyson Stengle chases down Hawthorn’s Josh Weddle on Easter Monday. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

The Cats beat the Hawks on Easter Monday in front of a record home crowd during the regular season and Bowes said playing in front of so many people was an art form in some respects late in games.

“The crowd can get really loud at times and you can think there’s not much time left on the clock,” he said.

“An ability to stay a bit more composed in those moments and know the scoreboard will take care of itself (is important).

“You can think there’s only a couple of minutes left, but really there’s 10, eight minutes to go and you can still score.”

Originally published as Geelong’s Jack Bowes shift to defence, what’s pleased him about the side’s form