CAM IN FOCUS
With a stacked midfield and two major retirements in defence, Cam Guthrie appears set for a more permanent return n to the backline as s the Cats rejig their ir side to find the premiership formula.
THE retirement of veteran duo Andrew Mackie and Tom Lonergan is likely to result in Cats utility Cam Guthrie spending even more time in Geelong’s defensive half in 2018, according to assistant coach Matthew Knights.
Guthrie’s decision-making and efficiency by foot are seen as highly valuable assets by the Geelong hierarchy, which will still deploy the 25-gyear-old through the midfield as required next year.
But the continued improvement of Mitch Duncan and Sam Menegola — coupled with the recruitment of dual Carji Greeves medallist Gary Ablett — has significantly eased the load off midfield stars Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield, and the increased depth in the Cats’ engine room frees Guthrie up to help provide a calming influence on his younger teammates down back.
Knights said the former Calder Cannons junior could become a weapon playing at half back for Geelong.
“I think when Cam has played his best footy it’s when the team and the planning has gone into the game where he has the flexibility to play both roles, and we’ve seen him do that really well,” Knights said.
“He has played on a half back flank on some good players and if required he can go into the midfield and add a real spark for us.
“It’s really good for Cam that he can play both but I think there is a good chance that we will see a little bit more of him down back next year.
“I think Lonergan and Mackie coming out of that back seven or eight over the course of the year will probably mean that Cam will be required to play that role for the team, and that really suits him because he defends really well at the source but then he has the ability to get through gaps and find targets with his kicking. His skill set really suits that position.”
Guthrie played 20 games in 2017 and averaged 18.2 disposals — slightly down on the 22.9 he averaged in 2016 when he finished fourth in Geelong’s best-and-fairest award.
He missed out on a place inside the top 10 this year but a return to his best football would be a major advantage for the Cats as they push for their first grand final since 2011.
Knights said Guthrie was one of several players who had been impressing at training since Geelong commenced its preseason campaign last month.
“Training has been excellent. The first few weeks we had limited numbers with a mixture of first, second and third-year players . . . and then a sprinkling of senior players,” he said.
“More recently in the last couple of weeks we’ve had the whole group back in its entirety and that’s been a nice fillip for us, to get everyone out on the track.
“Some of the drills we’ve had up to 35, 36 people in them so it’s been really pleasing from that point of view and the quality of training has been solid.”