Carji Greeves Medal: All the contenders and Cats who should poll well in Geelong best-and-fairest count
There are two hot favourites, but don’t count out a couple of unheralded Cats. See who should poll well at the Carji Greeves Medal count and our predictions.
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Geelong Football Club’s night of nights is here.
Which Cats star will be crowned as the 2024 Carji Greeves medallist on Thursday night, and who will poll well?
We look at all the contenders below.
CARJI GREEVES MEDAL PREVIEW
Max Holmes
The hot favourite to win the Carji Greeves after evolving into Geelong’s biggest weapon and one of the competition’s most damaging players. Holmes started the season with a bang after being moved to halfback but arguably his best form came in the engine room, highlighted by his exhilarating qualifying final performance against Port Adelaide. The speedster gained the second most metres in the competition behind Sydney’s Errol Gulden and led the Cats for SuperCoach ranking points, disposals and uncontested possessions.
Jeremy Cameron
Previously a joint winner of the 2022 Carji Greeves Medal and a Kevin Sheedy medallist in 2013, Cameron is every chance to finish the night with his third best-and-fairest win. Cameron finished the year with the second-most goals and Geelong’s top vote-getter at the Brownlow with 16, his second best return behind 2022 where he polled 19. That included five best-on-ground performances. The prolific goalkicker wasn’t just kicking bags either, he also racked up plenty of the ball up and down the ground and averaged a team-high 7.5 score involvements.
Zach Guthrie
The underrated defender’s fourth-placed finish in last year’s count may have surprised a few, and his season was even better this time around. Could he be a surprise winner? Guthrie rated elite for intercepts (7.0 per game) and intercept marks (2.2) this season and was typically consistent, which is the key to polling well in club best-and-fairests. He even polled his first ever Brownlow votes in 2024, with a three-vote display against Brisbane in round six and one vote in their loss to Port Adelaide in round nine.
Tyson Stengle
Stengle finished fourth in the Carji Greeves in 2022, and his season rivalled that stunning campaign. The opportunistic goalsneak was deadly accurate with 46.18 across 25 games and produced mesmerising finishes all year long. He kicked three or more goals on seven occasions, including against Essendon in round 16 where he polled two Brownlow votes. Didn’t ned a lot of the ball to have a big impact and regularly stepped up when the Cats needed it most.
Jack Henry
Don’t be surprised to see Henry record a top-five finish – he finished second back in 2021 with a similar season. Henry overcame his foot issues of the past to have a strong season, taking more intercept marks than any Cat and regularly stopping key forwards much taller than him. His finish to the regular season was particularly impressive, averaging the seventh most intercepts of any player from round 20 to the qualifying final.
Tom Stewart
The period where he was copping heavy attention from round nine to 15 could hurt his chances of winning a third Carji Greeves Medal, but outside of that he was still one of Geelong’s best. In a year where he battled a form slump, Stewart still rated elite for intercepts and intercept marks while adding another string to his bow as an inside midfielder. The Cats vice-captain returned to form in a big way to finish the year and had a big first half against Brisbane in their narrow preliminary final defeat. Although Stewart missed two games where he suffered in-game injuries, meaning he won’t be able to poll in four of them.
Patrick Dangerfield
The only thing that will count against Dangerfield is the fact he missed nine games with injury, but those games on the sidelines helped him perform at his best when he was out there. The Cats skipper finished the home-and-away season with a bang, racking up seven or more clearances in the last month, and also had a major impact in their qualifying final win over Port Adelaide. And who could forget his sealing goal against St Kilda back in round one that capped another Dangerfield-esque display.
Ollie Dempsey
Dempsey put himself on the map this season with his Rising Star win, going from a fringe player to one of the most important players in Geelong’s side. He started the year as a craft small forward and evolved into a playmaking wingman with his silky skills and elite running capacity. There was a patch during the middle of the year where he was in the best just about every week, highlighted by taking out the Tom Willis Award as the best player on the ground against Essendon. Should get marked higher by the Cats for the difficult half-forward-wing role he plays, too.
Gryan Miers
Didn’t get the fanfare he received last year for his assist feats – until his staggering cross and snap in the second quarter of the preliminary final, which saw the Lionel Messi memes return in their droves. But while Miers averaged one less score assist per game than last year, he kicked 14 more goals and averaged more disposals and tackles in 2024. The creative forward finished third in the 2023 best-and-fairest and enjoyed another consistent season, capping his year with two standout performances in the finals.
Brad Close
Remarkably, Close has finished seventh in Geelong’s last three best-and-fairests and his 2024 numbers are quite similar to those seasons. His stats never jump off the page – averaging 13 touches, a goal and two tackles per game this year – but Close is highly rated internally for his workrate up and down the ground. Coach Chris Scott said ahead of Close’s 100th game that the small forward and Zach Guthrie were in their 10 most important players, so another top-10 finish may be on the cards.
Tom Atkins
Speaking of perennial top-10 finishers, Atkins is another who polls better than the stats may suggest. Atkins was moved to halfback at the beginning of the year but returned to the midfield where he provided his usual grunt and defensive pressure, laying more tackles than any Cat this season. Atkins finished second in last year’s count and fifth in 2022.
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Originally published as Carji Greeves Medal: All the contenders and Cats who should poll well in Geelong best-and-fairest count
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