Cats’ plan to bring Dons to Geelong

GEELONG is keen to explore the possibility of bringing the annual Country Game against Essendon to regional heartland at GMHBA Stadium.

The Kevin Sheedy-inspired initiative has had a positive impact celebrating farming communities and regional towns.

But the three instalments of the showpiece game have all been played in Melbourne.

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said Essendon was one of the “big” Melbourne-based clubs the Cats were keen to host at Kardinia Park.

The Cats want to play traditional heavyweight clubs at GMHBA Stadium as part of a push to have at least nine games at the venue each year.

But Cook admits there are challenges attached to bringing Essendon to the Cattery.

For starters, the two teams would need to play each other twice in a season, with any one-off game likely to be at the MCG.

And even if the clubs do meet twice, the Cats would need to be playing their Melbourne home games against other high-drawing sides for a Bombers’ trip down the highway to become a chance.

“(Essendon playing in Geelong) is a possibility and it becomes an even bigger possibility when we play them twice in a year,” Cook said.

“When that happens, I think there’s a much better chance of it happening, for sure. They can keep their gate (match takings) and we can keep ours.”

Asked if he would like to see the Country Game in Geelong, Cook said: “It depends, but the answer to that is yes.

“Where it becomes an issue is when we have two home games in Melbourne (and you want those to be well attended), so we may have to play Essendon. But the answer is yes, we’d love to see Essendon playing down our way in the future.” A crowd of 50,228 attended last Saturday’s clash at the MCG, which was an Essendon home game.