How the Cats rebuilt their list under our noses

No team will be able to boast the level of AFL-ready talent of Geelong if it nails its trade targets. And the Cats are doing so while getting younger. Here’s how they did it.

The rejuvenation has been televised.

Don’t scoff, but even as Geelong trotted out the oldest side to ever play a VFL/AFL match in the grand final last month, the club has been working at getting younger and building its next generation right in front of our eyes.

Andrew Mackie has helped the Cats rejuvenate. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Cats know they have to bring in youth but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are completely focused on the draft.

If the balance of the scales over the five years previous tipped a little towards veterans – as players like Gary Ablett, Josh Jenkins, Jack Steven, Shaun Higgins and Isaac Smith were brought to the club for the twilight years of their careers – that has been corrected recently.

Ollie Henry wants to get to Geelong. Pic: Michael Klein

Geelong kept tabs on Ollie Henry and Tanner Bruhn this year but it was more of a pleasant surprise than meticulous planning that saw both 20 year olds keen to come home.

Several clubs may have showed interest in Jack Bowes – interest that obviously accelerated once he was packaged up with the now-famous No.7 draft pick – but the Cats were right among the first, with ex-teammate Ablett and management stablemate Patrick Dangerfield urging Geelong on.

And even when that No.7 draft choice gets bumped back once slot due to Will Ashcroft’s impending arrival at Brisbane, it would be the first time Geelong has drafted a player in single digits since Joel Selwood.

This guy was the last player Geelong drafted in single digits.

Last off-season the Cats were forced to hunt for a backup ruck when Darcy Fort pushed to move to Brisbane, leaving Jonathon Ceglar as the best available option.

But aside from the former Hawk, the always-hungry Cats were quiet on the trade front and invested in the future.

Tyson Stengle is one of the greatest signing coups in recent footy history and following him Geelong drafted six teens.

Tanner Bruhn is poised to become a Cat. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The club may have been linked to more players than any other team heading into trade week, but Geelong hasn’t seriously been in play for anyone older than the 24-year-old Bowes.

Landing Henry and Bruhn will likely dent Geelong’s draft capital, but list boss Andrew Mackie was firm this week in saying the Cats were still happily planning for the future.

“If you look at this trade period, clearly we are trying to bring in a couple of 20 year olds and Jack is 24, and we are really confident about some of our young ones coming through,” he told Trade Radio.

“Whether it’s the draft or any mechanism the AFL gives us to get players through, we will look at it.”

Geelong’s veterans are still in great form.

Of the 14 players over the age of 30 on Geelong’s list this season, three have retired – including the two oldest (Higgins and Selwood).

The next three oldest Cats are only just finalising their next contracts and while each of Tom Hawkins, Zach Tuohy and Smith played excellent football this year, there is no doubt more veterans will be phased out of the list in coming years.

Mackie acknowledged some players had the right to choose when they hang up the boots, but some others will get the tap on the shoulder in the next couple of years.

“You don’t want to leave a massive hole especially the older guys who retire, you don’t get anything back in a trade or replacements,” Mackie said.

“The staggered (retirements) is ideal for us but when there are certain players where it is in their hands when they would like to finish, that is not for everyone but there are certain players where that happens.

Joel Selwood may have retired but Isaac Smith is still going strong.

“We talk about that a lot and that is part of the strategy not only how you get players in but also on the other end of the curve when they are exiting and how that plays out.”

If the Cats can land their trio of young targets, they will carry a ludicrous amount of AFL-ready depth into the 2023 season.

Some other clubs have decried that the rich are getting richer and Geelong fans can consider it like a trust fund.

The behind-the-scenes list rebuild is in full flight and a new wave of players will be ready to carry on the winning ways in coming years.

Originally published as How the Cats rebuilt their list under our noses