- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
It’s not often you can argue a team is about to fall off the cliff or that they are about to launch another premiership attack, yet they are the two sides of the coin being argued about Geelong this year.
They are likely to lose three pillars of their defence next year in Tom Lonergan, Jared Rivers and Corey Enright. Then there’s the possibility of other ageing veterans such as Jimmy Bartel, James Kelly, Mathew Stokes, Mackie and Steve Johnson following them shortly after.
But despite this loss Geelong still look to be priming for a premiership tilt between 2016 and 2018. Why is this?
Geelong played 10 players under the age of 23 on Friday night. Just for comparison North Melbourne had eight. Fremantle had five and Port Adelaide nine in their finals clash.
But it’s the next stat that’s most surprising. Geelong have only one player between the ages of 27 to 29 on their list. One player, in arguably the age demographic that is most critical for premiership success.
The two premiership favourites in Hawthorn and Sydney have five and seven respectively, while Fremantle have 12. Geelong do, however, have nine players over 30, Hawthorn have seven with Fremantle having five.
But Geelong are clearly blooding youth to prepare for this changing of the guard. Aside from Steve Johnson, the oldest player who goes through their midfield rotations is Joel Selwood at 26, with Josh Caddy, Cameron Guthrie, George Horlin-Smith, Mitch Duncan and Allen Christensen (when fit) all either 22 or 23.
Tom Hawkins, like Selwood is also 26. His 23 and under supporting acts from Friday night include Steven Motlop, Jordan Murdoch, Josh Walker and Lincoln Mccarthy with Nathan Vardy and Daniel Menzel out injured.
It’s the backline where age is of the most concern for Geelong. Harry Taylor is the only one who looks certain to be around for the next two years and beyond at the age of 28. With relatively unproven support acts ready to come in you can see why recruiting James Frawley (aged 26) is so critical for Geelong. However, Jackson Thurlow and Jed Bews both look promising, with Billie Smedts has lots of potential.
The ruck division could be vulnerable going forward also, with injury prone Dawson Simpson aged 25, with revelation Mark Blicavs 23 being left to shoulder a lot of the load.
Geelong supporters have experienced some remarkable highs and lows in their time, but they can rest easy knowing if players develop as expected they may be the first team to rebuild while staying in the top four.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.