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Menzel signs one-year contract extension
GEELONG forward Daniel Menzel has re-signed with the club until the end of 2018.
The South Australian put pen to paper with the Cats for a new one-year deal on Wednesday afternoon.
Menzel had tested the waters as an unrestricted freeagent during the recent AFL trade period in a search for a new home but could not find any clubs willing to offer him a contract that matched his requirements.
The 26-year-old finished the home-and-away season with 38 goals from 17 matches but was controversially left out of the qualifying final team that lost to Richmond by 51 points.
He was recalled a week later and kicked two majors in the 59-point semi-final win over Sydney, taking his overall goal tally in the past two seasons to 73 from just 37 games.
Speculation surrounding Menzel’s contractual status at Geelong had been building for some time, with many commentators believing that he would walk from the club during the trade period.
The decision to drop him for such a crucial game after a solid year only fuelled that talk but Cats list manager Stephen Wells said the club was delighted to have secured Menzel’s services for another season. “It’s good for Dan and the club that we can just get on with things now,” Wells said.
“We’re looking for a big year out of Dan and all of our players.
“It was always a possibility that he would exercise his free agent rights but he hasn’t so we’re happy and looking forward to 2018.”
Menzel’s defensive pressure, or lack thereof, came under fire late in the year, with his tackle numbers particularly causing concern for the Cats coaching group.
He laid only 22 tackles in the home-and-away season, which was significantly fewer than teammates inside-50 such as James Parsons ( 42 from 18), Brandan Parfitt (44 from 12), Tom Hawkins (56 from 19) and even Steven Motlop (44 from 20), who was often slammed by those outside the club for his work defensively.
Despite this it is understood he had attracted reasonable interest from his home state and other clubs in the market for a mid-sized forward. THE fate of small defender Tom Ruggles will be decided soon.
At this stage there is no contract in front of the 25-year-old, who only played four senior games with the Cats in 2017 after notching 18 the previous year.
If delisted there is still a chance Ruggles may end up on another AFL club’s list, with the pre-season draft a likely avenue for him to find a new home. RICHMOND delisted two more players — medium forward Ben Lennon and defender Jake Batchelor — ahead of Monday’s list lodgement deadline.
Lennon, 22, was taken at pick 12 by the Tigers in the 2013 national draft but managed only 21 matches over four injury-plagued seasons. Batchelor, 25, made his debut in 2011 and played 84 senior games. HAWTHORN delisted pacy midfielder Billy Hartung along with two other players as the focus shifts to 2018.
Hartung, drafted with pick 24 in the 2013 draft, was cut along with defender Kade Stewart and fellow youngster Dallas Willsmore, with the latter to be returned to the list in this year’s rookie draft. Hartung, 22, played 63 games for the Hawks across four seasons, but missed the 2014 and 2015 premiership victories.