Mick Malthouse: Does the hunger remain as Geelong wrangles with a leadership reshuffle?

Structurally the reigning premiers are sound but in the process of change, particularly at the top following Joel Selwood’s retirement. Mick Malthouse on why it isn’t panic stations just yet.

Jeremy Cameron. Picture: Michael Klein

To wear the blue and white hoops of Geelong this season is to be hunted by every other team in the league. That’s what happens when you’re the premiers.

And when other sides are coming at you, you need to be better than you were the previous year.

After two losses to start this season, the Cats need to ask themselves three questions:

* Is the hunger for the battle still there?

* Can the new leaders prioritise leadership over form loss?

* How much does Joel Selwood’s retirement hurt them?

Since 2020 when Geelong lost the grand final to Richmond, Chris Scott took his team from a side that, I thought, didn’t move the ball quickly enough, to a team that moves it brilliantly.

He is an innovative coach and has had at his disposal a team that can respond.

Structurally the Cats are sound, with a strong game plan. They have a very good system of defence, holding the ball up and getting it into a scoring position.

They were OK against a rampaging Collingwood until they were overwhelmed in the final quarter, and it was a credit to them that they lasted that long in the game after losing key players to injury.

New captain Patrick Dangerfield and Cam Guthrie are both out of sorts in the middle.

Against Carlton last week they made the Blues very nervous until the final siren.

So, I don’t believe it would be panic stations at Geelong.

Perhaps the doomsayers are sweating on a capitulation of the Cats, but in their next games weeks they play Gold Coast, Hawthorn, West Coast, Sydney and Essendon which could potentially leave them in a good position after seven rounds.

It will certainly tell us if they’ve managed to get the balance right between introducing new players into the team and covering for injuries.

Because one of life’s certainties is that nothing stays the same.

On Sunday, Geelong (as named on paper) has only one player from its back six who played in that losing grand final just over two years ago — Mark Blicavs.

There are nine changes from that team, through retirement or injury, including the exclusion of Gary Ablett, Joel Selwood, Harry Taylor, Lachie Henderson and Luke Dahlhaus.

Mark Blicavs is the only player running out on Sunday who who played in the losing grand final to Richmond just over two years ago.

Even from last year’s premiership side there are four changes on Sunday. No Selwood, Mitch Duncan, Jake Kolodjashnij or Jack Henry.

The Cats have been so consistent with their team in recent years, with little player movement, that just a few changes can really sting.

When you are still trying to introduce a forward to the backline (Esava Ratugolea) and you have a young key back still learning his trade (Sam De Koning) and you lose a backline leader like Stewart, and you are still without underrated defender Duncan, there can be a disconnect.

Then there’s the connection between the mids and the forwards. Tom Hawkins was hardly on the training track while recovering from foot surgery in the pre-season. So the pressure goes straight on to Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan to be the scorers. Rohan has always relied heavily on getting the third or fourth best defender.

And they all must work out how Ollie Henry fits in.

Patrick Dangerfield has struggled in his first two games since taking over from Joel Selwood. Picture: Michael Klein

New captain, Patrick Dangerfield, and Cam Guthrie in the middle are also out of sorts. They too are in the process of a handover, with new recruits Tanner Bruhn and Jack Bowes, plus Max Holmes getting more time in the middle. This has impacted the workload and reliance on Tom Atkins, who is currently just off the boil.

Geelong has been well served by its leaders all over the ground in the past decade.

Dangerfield has taken over from one of the great captains in Selwood, and make no mistake, he is up for the task. But with a form drop-off in games one and two of the season, Dangerfield must now start to work on two things — his own performance and that of his leadership.

That’s where the water can get muddied. As good as Dangerfield is, if you start to prioritise your form in lieu of leadership, the team can suffer. The test for him is to get the balance right. Form will look after itself when leadership is prioritised.

There is no denying that the Cats have a mature, perhaps ageing, team. They will potentially have eight players who are 30-plus in their team on Sunday. The unknown factor in this, and this applies to the whole team not just the ageing greats, is the level of hunger.

Hunger can’t be measured on the training track, nor after just a couple of games.

The Cats are too good to miss the final eight but they need to get that motor purring before the season gets away from it.

Even when great sides lose a little hunger for the battle, supposedly, there will still be a spike at some stage during the season. Hunger can only be established over a number of weeks, so for this, we wait to see.

The other unknown is the effect of a long hard 2022 season, regardless of a very easy grand final victory, and what another summer, and another pre-season, and another year added on to their age does to their legs and minds.

Jeremy Cameron has been Geelong’s best player so far this season. Picture: Michael Klein

The first thing that goes in any player is speed. The mind is still alert but the body can’t respond. Time waits for no one, and that’s simply the test for any ageing player:

can they be better or at least hold their ground?

When a team has been so dominant one year, it’s almost expected they will be so the next. But remember, other teams improve too, Collingwood has demonstrated that. Brisbane is bruised and hurt from last year, Sydney copped its whack in the grand final and is now getting on with things, and a Gawnless Melbourne will really be tested.

The Cats are too good to miss the final eight. The top four will be a challenge but they have plenty of home games to chew sides up. The hunter doesn’t always get its prey. But sometimes it does.

Originally published as Mick Malthouse: Does the hunger remain as Geelong wrangles with a leadership reshuffle?