Small is beautiful
CATS KEEN TO KEEP UP THE PRESSURE
IF the message to those on Geelong’s list at the end of the 2017 season wasn’t clear enough then Friday night’s draft has surely reinforced it.
Put simply, players who don’t want to tackle, who don’t want to pressure their opponents, who don’t want to chase and who don’t want to help lock the ball inside-50 do so at their own peril.
There are now plenty of others who are capable of doing the job.
Geelong’s bold recruitment strategy of adding size and depth through the middle of the ground and ferocity and skill in the small forward category comes just months after Richmond’s drought-breaking premiership that was built on the back of relentless pressure — the sort that we had hitherto unseen in the AFL.
The contrast between the Tigers and the Cats, whose lack of forward pressure had been identified as an area of weakness in certain circles, was never more telling than in September, so Stephen Wells and the Geelong recruiting team should be commended for addressing the perceived shortfall.
There are a lot of people with a lot of opinions in footy, but when it comes to the draft and recruiting it is invariably best left to those whose job it is to watch the game’s future stars on a weekly basis to make the final assessment.
All that others can do is look at what clubs have on their list and evaluate the types of players that could suit, and many suspected the Cats would go after key position youngsters to develop alongside their stars at either end of the ground in the next few years.
But with what Geelong has brought in it is clear it considers tackling, ball-winning players who are uncompromising and can apply unyielding pressure as a priority over tall forwards and defenders.
Wells said in the lead up to the draft that the Cats would be happy to take the best talent available at the time, and there was always a huge amount of midfield depth in this draft, but it can’t be coincidence that there were no key position players deemed to be the best available at any of Geelong’s picks.
What it also highlights is that for all the talk that Tom Hawkins needs help inside-50 and that Chris Scott and his coaching group need to find a replacement for Tom Lonergan, they may just feel they already have the players on the list to do the job.
Wylie Buzza will have another preseason under his belt and his aggression and attack on the ball and the man is exactly the type of output required of a player of his stature, so there is no reason why he can’t play the second tall forward role if that’s what Scott wants. With an AFL preseason, 23-year-old Tim Kelly will be extremely valuable in the Cats engine room and his recruitment will aid the Geelong midfield if Patrick Dangerfield spends more time inside-50 as expected.
At the other end of the ground, 198cm defender Ryan Gardner has been quietly toiling away in the VFL, honing his one-on-one skills against quality power forwards, and he should be pushing for senior selection.
So while it may have surprised some that Geelong went small on Friday night, rest assured Wells, Scott and the Cats key decision makers left the draft a very pleased group.
Only time will tell just how good a job they did.