Gryan Miers reflects on Geelong’s grand final loss, new Cats draftees and his role
After the 2020 grand final loss, Gryan Miers said it was the flag that got away. But 2025 feels different. He opens up on how, Geelong’s new draftees and his 2026 role.
Geelong distributor Gryan Miers says last season’s grand final defeat will “hurt forever” but insists the Cats now have their sights set on winning the 2026 premiership.
The Cats were blown out of the water by premiers Brisbane in the second half of the grand final, conceding 11 goals to one in a half-hour stretch in their 47-point loss.
Miers tasted premiership success in 2022 with Geelong but has become accustomed to finals despair, playing in two grand final losses and three preliminary final exits.
The 26-year-old said comparing the two losing deciders to Richmond in 2020 and Brisbane this year – the Cats convincingly beaten after halftime in both clashes – was difficult with 2025 still raw.
But Miers said he will use their loss to the Lions as fuel to put the Cats in contention again as he referenced a past press conference after the 2020 grand final.
“I remember in 2020, I spoke in a press conference how I’ll never forget losing 2020 and it might help me win another premiership, but I’ll always feel like that’s the one that got away,” Miers said.
“And I feel like this one (2025) again, I’m grateful I got to win one in between, but I won’t feel like that wasn’t an opportunity lost.
“It doesn’t matter, we’ll be trying again because I love football and I love winning and we’ll be trying to get that ultimate success again.
“But I am very disappointed that we let that one go and we didn’t win that one. It will always be in the back of my mind that it is disappointing, but I’ll try and use it as motivation also.
“2020 is disappointing because of the situation we lived in also, you wanted to make that hub all worthwhile and that really good memory is attached to it.
“But last year we kind of set ourselves up so perfectly, scores level at half time, it’s just finishing up a game and we didn’t do that. So that’s going to hurt forever. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be okay and I’m not okay today to attack training today and just be motivated and excited to play footy.”
While Sydney coach Dean Cox reviewed the Swans’ crushing 2023 grand final loss in agonising detail when they returned, Miers doubts the Cats will do the same under coach Chris Scott.
However, it was discussed at length at teammate Jack Bowes’ wedding on the Gold Coast a month in late October.
The wedding broke up an off-season of overseas sightseeing for Miers which eased the pain somewhat, visiting Vietnam, Hong Kong, Canada and Hawaii.
“I would be surprised if we do (review the grand final) to be honest. We haven’t ever in the past reviewed a grand final or prelim loss that I’ve had in my time,” Miers said.
“It’s kind of ‘new year, new us’ kind of mentality. You bring in new faces that will change the way we play.
“I’ve always said that I don’t play the same way each week, let alone each year, so I’m not too fussed.
“There’s individual moments that you want to take back, and I think there internally review those over the last nine weeks. But now that we’re on to next year, I don’t think it really matters to what next week will look like.
“When I got away, I was able to freshen up and do training and not really think about it. Then I came back to a wedding and saw all my teammates and we kind of recapped it a fair bit over in Queensland.
“And then went away again and came back and now it did hit me kind of (last week) when I got back into training. But I’m okay and I think all the boys are okay to go again.”
INSIDE WORD ON DRAFTEES
Another distraction for Miers over the break was the AFL draft, which Miers has been increasingly involved in as he learns the ropes under recruiting guru Stephen Wells.
Miers sees similarities between him and Cats Next Generation Academy graduate Jesse Mellor, also drafted as a Geelong Falcons goalsneak.
He is also excited by the potential of national draftees Harley Barker and Hunter Holmes, knowing the latter well through his older brother Max.
“It was awesome to actually be involved this year throughout the process and watch the draft and feel like you know the guys, and meet them at the combine,” Miers said.
“I think Harley’s going to be a special player. I love what he did throughout the year, watched him live a few times up at Marvel and another place. So it was exciting to get him and I think he’s going to just play an amazing role on the wing for us but then I think he’s got a lot of scope in other areas too, which is how we like to use our players.
“Jesse Mellor was as exciting as they come. So when I was watching him, I saw a lot of myself throughout my under-18 year so I am excited for how I can help him and refine his edges and then hopefully get him into a full time AFL area, I think he’ll really blossom.
“And Hunter, I think we all know what Hunter was able to bring. I don’t think I’ll need to coach Hunter too much as he’s got Max on his side, but if we can turn him into half the player Max is, I think he is going to be a special player.
“And I know Hunter quite well as a person and he’s a really good person, I know that he’ll be able to do that.”
Miers knows first-hand that development is just as important as draft selections.
Taken as a goalsneak out of Grovedale, Miers was forced to bide his time in the VFL in his first AFL campaign in 2018 before cementing himself as a senior regular in 2019.
He is excited by the growth of Geelong’s 2024 draft class, including uncapped forward Jay Polkinghorne who kicked a team-high 31 goals for Geelong VFL.
“That’s such a crucial part of what the club is about, is that it is a full development process and not one size fits all,’ Miers said.
“Like we have Tom Atkins and Shaun Mannagh who come in and dominate their first year, but then there’s Connor Sullivan, Sam De Koning, Shannon Neale, myself, Jack Henry, the list goes on, Zach Guthrie, where we’re all on different timetables and we’ve all come in and contributed at our own pace.
“And that’s something that the young boys can lean on, is that it might not be your week, it might not be your first month, but if you do the right things and you listen to the right people, your time will come.
“Like Jay Polkinghorne, Jacob Molier, and how that crew now puts their career on the map.”
ROLE CHANGE?
Miers can’t wait to play alongside his 2017 Geelong Falcons premiership captain James Worpel in the hoops, whose inclusion could impact Miers’ role.
The elite-kicking playmaker was injected into the engine room from round 19 onwards and impressed, but he is happy to be flexible like several of his versatile teammates.
“We have added ‘Worps’, so maybe that will push me back to half forward, maybe it will push me up to a wing, maybe I’ll stay in there, I don’t know,” Miers said.
“But that’s the kind of exciting part is that I’m adaptable, that I can play in any of those positions and contribute, so then I don’t rely on one thing, and my team doesn’t rely on one thing.
Miers has loved reconnecting with Worpel — the former Hawk narrowly escaping a Miers tackle at training last week — and said he will give their midfield a significant boost.
“It’s been great in the last week or so being with (Worpel) at dinner when I first got back to Australia and it was kind of that feeling where you see an old mate again, where nothing’s changed even though you’ve been apart from each other.
“So the way he’s going to bring the leadership in that barrier between our 30 year olds and young boys that we will kind of need a little bit more support in that area as an inside mid that will help take the bruises but also lead the boys. And he ticks all those boxes for us.”
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Originally published as Gryan Miers reflects on Geelong’s grand final loss, new Cats draftees and his role
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