Modern Geelong myths that need to be dispelled

During Geelong’s premiership era, many myths emerged about famous moments and the people behind them that drove Geelong through its golden run.

Today the Cats have myths too but, rather than reflecting a successful era, it’s holding the club back from facing the truth about the post-2011 Scott era and the ramifications of a failed list management strategy.

So it’s time to tackle these myths and dispel them once and for all.

Myth no. 1: Geelong are a successful club.
Geelong’s not a successful club. Between 2007-2011, Geelong ‘were’ a successful club but it’s approaching seven years since they last played in a grand final or won a premiership – and they’ve only won three finals since.

Eight teams have won more finals than Geelong since 2011 and, with a finals winning percentage of a paltry 27 per cent over a 6 year period, it’s hard to fathom how the word ‘successful’ could ever be associated with the contemporary club.

Geelong’s performances at the MCG aren’t much to write home about either with, the Cats scrounging out just a 42.8 per cent winning record at the ground over the last 28 games there.

The simple fact is successful teams perform on the big stage of the MCG.

Myth no. 2: Geelong’s done well in the Chris Scott era to turn over most of its list without decent draft picks since 2011 and remain competitive.
First of all, the reason Geelong hasn’t had any decent draft picks is because the club made a conscious decision to pursue a list management strategy they knew would greatly limit their access to decent draft picks.

This isn’t a ‘woe is Geelong’ scenario where the club did well against the odds imposed by the AFL, it was imposed by the club upon itself.

The club deliberately put all its eggs in the ‘topping up the list with established players and mature age recruits’ basket. As a result, Chris Scott’s tenure hasn’t developed one player from the under 18s system that’s considered an elite player for the club.

All teams have turned over the majority of their lists since 2011. At least five of them in Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs, Richmond, Sydney, and West Coast have done it with more success than Geelong. You could also argue Hawthorn have too.

Melbourne, Collingwood, and Essendon are on the brink of also claiming more out of their respective post-2011 list turnovers than Geelong, especially as the Cats are now beginning to age and slide.

Myth no. 3: Geelong are a destination club.
The only starting 22 previously established players that came to the Cats without family pulling them back to the region and subsequently to the club are Zach Tuohy and Rhys Stanley.

Indeed, when Geelong has approached players without such connections to the club or region it’s been incredibly difficult to convince them to come – as their failed pursuits of Devon Smith, Jack Watts, and Jake Stringer in 2017 perfectly demonstrates.

Myth No. 4: Geelong’s got a lot of great young players.
Don’t get me wrong, Geelong’s got a few great young players with enormous potential – namely Esava Ratugolea, Jack Henry, Nakia Cockatoo, and maybe you could add Quinton Narkle to that list.

However the AFLPA’s 22 under 22 is the best indicator one could have of teams young stars and, for two years in a row, Geelong’s failed to have a single player named in the 40-man squad – let alone the team.

Even of the players I named, Cockatoo is incredibly injury-prone and may not ever get a fair crack at it, while Narkle has hardly played a game – so the jury is still well and truly out on him.

That leaves just two young players one could label, with any level of certainty, ‘great’ on the the club’s 2018 list.

I don’t write this piece with some vindictive pleasure or to upset Geelong fans or even to be deliberately provocative. I write it because I think the supporters and club itself need to stop believing in myths and face the truth of where the Geelong is at as a club.

The successful period of 2007-2011 has long disappeared in the rear view mirror now and, as we head toward the end of the Cook/Scott era over the next few years, it’s time to re-evaluate free of preconceived ideas or fanciful romantic notions about the club and understand we’re not the club we were back then.

We’re not successful anymore and, as a club, we find ourselves on the precipice of a list demographic cliff.

It’s patently clear as we cling to a finals chance in 2018 that the topping up list management strategy didn’t work.

We desperately need to face these harsh realities if we’re to return to the successful kind of club we want to be

The club’s myths during the glory days were reflections on success rather than delusions of grandeur papering over increasingly glaring cracks of failure.