Club by club: How Chris Scott will rejuvinate Geelong’s list to finally begin rebuild
Geelong has started to load up on more youngsters after a ‘Dad’s Army’ premiership in 2022. SCOTT GULLAN analyses whether the Cats will slide into rebuild or have enough for a final flag tilt.
Talk about going from chocolates to boiled lollies.
The defending champions started the season with three losses and from there they never really got going which further fuelled the fire about their ageing list.
Chris Scott has handled every challenge which has come his way during his 12-year tenure and he may need to pull into his reserve of magic tricks with many in the football world thinking the Cats might have finally tipped over the edge.
GEELONG
Coach: Chris Scott
Captain: Patrick Dangerfield
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2023?
Signs of the hangover were there early and while a five-game winning burst from Round 4-8 momentarily camouflaged the issues, the Cats never really found their stride.
The fade-out late was the biggest concern, losing five of the last six games to finish 12th — the club’s worst finishing position for 20 years.
They were still in the finals race coming into Round 23 but were torched by St Kilda to the tune of 33 points and then conceded meekly at home against the Western Bulldogs in the final round.
It was around the ball where the Cats were found wanting with Joel Selwood’s retirement felt harder than expected, combined with the season-ending injury to Cam Guthrie — the best and fairest winner from the premiership year — after Round 6.
Veterans who had been so good the previous year such as Norm Smith Medallist Isaac Smith, Zach Tuohy and Mitch Duncan dropped a level while Tyson Stengle didn’t replicate his form of 12 months earlier and skipper Patrick Dangerfield was hampered by injury.
The numbers in the forward line looked good on paper with Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron combining for more than 100 goals again and new recruit Ollie Henry impressing with 41 majors.
But Cameron wasn’t the same player after being accidentally knocked out by teammate Gary Rohan in Round 15 and his troubles from that point on mirrored his team’s.
WHERE DO THEY FINISH IN 2024?
There are plenty of football pundits queuing up to declare that finally this amazing football club is set for a proper slide.
Smith is the only notable retirement, while they lost key defender Esava Ratugolea to Port Adelaide in the trade period.
There was a noticeable focus on the national draft in November, which might give an insight into a change of attitude at Kardinia Park.
The age demographic is again something which the critics use when predicting the fall of the empire, with 11 Geelong players to be 30 and over coming into the 2024 season.
That’s a serious chunk of the list in their twilight years, which throws up one crucial question — have they got another roll of the dice in them?
There are a lot of ‘if’s’ about Geelong, but for a minute imagine if Dangerfield, Cameron, Guthrie, Hawkins, Duncan, Tom Stewart and Mark Blicavs get themselves right physically for one last campaign.
Obviously for Scott to pull off another miracle he will need something significant from others such as talented rising stars like Max Holmes, Tanner Bruhn, Sam De Koning and a better run with injury for the much-hyped Jhye Clark.
BIGGEST IMPROVER IN 2024?
Tanner Bruhn is the one the Cats need to find another level.
He looked good at times during 19 games in his first season at Geelong, after starting his career at the GWS Giants.
He now enters his fourth AFL season with 49 games behind him, which is generally the time for significant growth.
Geelong’s midfield is crying out for more elite talent, with Bruhn and Holmes the two potential stars.
Young ruckman Toby Conway also showed in his one-game appearance that there is something there.
If he can have an injury-free run, that trio can have a major impact on the Cats fortunes.
X-FACTOR
One of the stories of the national draft was the drafting of 26-year-old Werribee VFL standout Shaun Mannagh.
The Cats had followed him for a couple of years, but the football world took notice of him with an extraordinary six-goal, 27-disposal grand final performance in a losing cause.
There are plenty who think Mannagh can bring that sort of explosiveness to the AFL, which will be a point of difference Geelong is craving.
COACH STATUS
Chris Scott signed a two-year extension in September which will see him coach Geelong until the end of 2026, meaning he will coach the Cats for 16 seasons.
There has been some shuffling of the decks beneath him, with premiership ruckman Steven King returning home after stints with the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast.
Another ex-Cat, James Rahilly, who was voted the AFL Coaches’ Association assistant coach of the year in 2023, also returns after three seasons at Adelaide.
Shaun Grigg (Gold Coast) and Daisy Pearce (West Coast AFLW) depart.
IN LAST YEAR OF CONTRACT
Brandan Parfitt, Cameron Guthrie, Emerson Jeka, Gary Rohan, Jack Bowes, Jack Henry, Jake Kolodjashnij, James Willis, Jed Bews, Jhye Clark, Mark O’Connor, Max Holmes, Mitch Hardie, Mitch Duncan, Ollie Henry, Patrick Dangerfield, Phoenix Foster, Rhys Stanley, Ted Clohesy, Tom Hawkins, Tyson Stengle, Zach Guthrie, Zach Tuohy.
INS FOR 2024
Mitchell Edwards (No.32 draft pick), Joe Furphy (Category B rookie), Lawson Humphries (No.63 draft pick), Emerson Jeka (Rookie Draft), Shaun Mannagh (No.36 draft pick), Connor O’Sullivan (No.11 draft pick), George Stevens (No.58 draft pick), Oliver Wiltshire (No.61 draft pick)
OUTS FROM 2023
Jonathon Ceglar (retired), Flynn Kroeger (delisted), Sam Menegola (delisted), Esava Ratugolea (trade, Port Adelaide), Osca Riccardi (delisted), Sam Simpson (delisted), Isaac Smith (retired), Cooper Whyte (delisted)
More Coverage
First year wrap, contract latest: Where 2023 draft’s top 30 sit
With season two ahead, check out how the top 30 players picked in the 2023 AFL Draft are tracking — including a contract update.
Call for Newman’s AFL honours to be reviewed after neo-Nazi guests
Sam Newman drew condemnation for inviting neo-Nazis on his podcast. An activist believes the AFL and Geelong need to reconsider his Hall of Fame and legend status, and Newman has hit back.