I was surprised last year when many so-called experts wrote off Geelong before and during the 2011 season.
The Cats had only lost Gary Ablett Jnr and Bomber Thompson – yes, a great player and a great coach, but they still had an array of stars and several left with the elite tag.
“Too old, too slow,” the critics said, and they were all proven wrong by the Cats.
Over the past five years, Geelong has held aloft three flags and racked up 105 wins from 125 games. The champion team stepped up another notch in the finals, and they dominated Collingwood in the big dance.
Geelong finished 2011 with 22 wins and three losses (against Essendon, West Coast and Sydney). Corey Enright took out the best and fairest, with Joel Corey, Norm Smith medallist Jimmy Bartel, Cameron Ling and James Kelly close behind.
In the Brownlow count, new captain Joel Selwood polled 17, Steve Johnson left the count with 12 and Corey received 11 from the umpires – slightly different to what the club thought.
Up forward, the J-Pod (James Podsiadly) was Geelong’s leading goalkicker with 52, Johnson next with 50, and a long list of contributors scored between 26 and 31 majors.
After succeeding Bomber (260 games), Chris Scott walked into the newly-named Simonds Stadium with one thing on his mind – not to tinker with the Cats’ game play too much. Scott didn’t, and we all know what happened.
Scott and his coaching staff were geniuses in the way they implemented their man-management policy – it was key to the Cats’ success and it was effective. Not one Geelong player appeared in every game in 2011.
In 2011 the Cats lost Ablett. In 2012 the reigning premiers will take to the field without Ling, Brad Ottens, Darren Milburn, Mark Blake, Cameron Mooney and Damian Drum – all retirees.
What does that mean for Geelong? The pessimists will give the Cats no chance. The optimists will say it creates chances for those who have been trailing behind the big names.
Taylor Hunt, Allen Christensen, Trent West, Nathan Vardy, Tom Gillies, Billie Smedts, Cameron Guthrie and mature-age rookie Orren Stephenson are all contenders. A former North Ballarat best and fairest defender who played with Stephenson said that the big ruckman should have been playing in the AFL years ago.
The “too old” calls will once again be wheeled out, but the older players are also in career-best form, including Paul Chapman, Bartel, Johnson, Enright and Matthew Scarlett.
Kelly, Corey, Harry Taylor and J-Pod will also be important. The list goes on. They aren’t stopping.
Geelong suffered many injuries last season and still came out the best. I want to see a Cats outfit that is fit the entire year.
The likes of Mitch Duncan, Daniel Menzel, George Horlin-Smith, Smedts and Vardy who are not currently fit and healthy will eventually bolster Geelong’s stocks of younger players. In 2012, Geelong will have 13 players under the age of 21.
Geelong unfurls the 2011 premiership flag at home in round four against Richmond – a home ground that will this year provide the Cats with even a greater advantage with the wind coming through from the stand re-build. They face Collingwood in the grand final rematch in round eight.
In short, Geelong is sure to be hard to beat again this year – let’s tip another top three finish.
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