Geelong list changes continue as the club begins preperations for 2023

Another Geelong veteran well-loved in AFL circles has decided his time is up at the top level, joining Joel Selwood and five delisted players as post-2022 exits.

Premiership Bulldog and beloved Cat Luke Dahlhaus has called time on his 225-game career.

A heart and soul member of Geelong, the 30-year-old announced his retirement on Thursday, capping a 12-season career highlighted by winning the 2016 flag with the Western Bulldogs.

A spirited half-forward, Dahlhaus played 154 games for the Dogs after being taken from the Geelong Falcons in the 2011 rookie draft.

Luke Dahlhaus was loved within the Cats playing group. Picture: Alan Barber

The Leopold product signed a lucrative four-year deal to come home to Geelong before the 2019 season and played a further 71 games, helping the Cats revamp their gameplan and add in much-needed frontal pressure.

Dahlhaus found himself on the outer this season and played just 10 matches, the lowest tally of his career.

The forward played his last game in round 21, as a last-minute call up to replace Patrick Dangerfield, who pulled out with a sore calf.

His Geelong teammates were joyous for Dahlhaus to get a crack, showing how loved he was as part of the playing group.

Luke Dahlhaus celebrates a goal. Photo by Michael Klein

After that win over St Kilda, Dahlhaus admitted he knew he may never play AFL again but he was determined to stay ready as the Cats embarked on a premiership run through September.

“Before the game, I am a realist, I thought, ‘this could be the last game you play in the AFL’,” Dahlhaus said then.

“It’s sad but it’s reality. I went out with that do-or-die attitude and ­wanted to really show the coaches and players who do have trust in me, that I can bring that pressure around the ball and can have some influence, which I thought I did.

“Mentally it is pretty tough to know every week you are on that fringe. To be honest, I have been lucky because I haven’t really been on that fringe for most of my career, but it has been tough (this year).

Cats cut five including Narkle, Evans

Quinton Narkle and Francis Evans will look for a new AFL home over the off-season after they led a pack of Geelong delistings on Wednesday.

Narkle and Evans were joined by defender Nick Stevens, ex-basketballer Paul Tsapatolis and mid-season draftee Zaine Williams as being cut by the Cats.

Quinton Narkle kicks long. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

After 41 AFL games in the hoops – including eight in 2022 – Narkle was let go, which will allow him greater freedom to land on another list as a delisted free agent.

The silky midfielder had his best season in 2021 when he played 16 games but struggled to lock in a spot in Geelong’s increasingly deep midfield rotation.

Plucked from obscurity at Brunswick NOBS in the VAFA Evans played seven games as a goalkicking forward and has been linked with a move to Port Adelaide.

He too will be able to walk to the Power – or the club of his choice – as a delisted free agent.

Highly rated as a running defender, Stevens was unable to play a senior game in two years on the Cats’ list.

Francis Evans get on the move. Photo by Michael Klein

Tsapatolis was signed as a flyer, having been a top-level basketballer, but couldn’t complete the transition to football as a potential ruck.

Geelong’s first modern mid-season draft pick, Williams was only on the list for the second half of this season and the Cats didn’t lose an AFL game while he was at the club.

A speedy forward, he couldn’t crack Geelong’s best side.

With the potential of bringing in trade targets such as Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Henry and Jack Bowes, Geelong is in need of clearing space on its list.

Skipper Joel Selwood looks increasingly likely to follow Shaun Higgins in retirement, while Luke Dahlhaus is weighing up his future.

Geelong football boss Simon Lloyd said each of the five players “played their part in our recent success”.

“To pull on the hoops is an achievement in of itself and each of these young men should be incredibly proud to have represented the Geelong Football Club,” Lloyd said.

Originally published as Geelong list changes continue as the club begins preperations for 2023