TRADING TRIO COULD OPEN DRAFT DOOR FOR GEELONG
THE last time Geelong was bounced out of the finals by Melbourne, it retooled on the run brilliantly.
That year it was the players that were traded in that helped move the needle; this year it could be the ones going the other way as the potential losses of the likes of Jordan Clark,
Quinton Narkle and Nathan Kreuger present an opportunity.
In the weeks after a bitter elimination final defeat in 2018, the Cats brought in
Gary Rohan, signed Luke Dahlhaus as a free agent and swooped on Tom Atkins as a rookie draft pick.
The trio have hardly been world beaters but they allowed the Cats to revamp their attack and a new game plan had Geelong push Richmond to the edge twice.
Given how its list stands now, Geelong has no choice but to retool on the run again and along with a game plan tweak it needs some baby faces.
Plucking more players born too long before the world was living in fear of a much friendlier virus – Y2K – would be bordering on insanity. So the Cats need to go to the draft and they need to nail it.
Thanks to the Jeremy Cameron deal – still a home run unless his body deteriorates – Geelong currently holds picks 30, 32, 34 and 52 for this year’s AFL Draft.
While some fans will hope that Clark, Narkle and Kreuger are on the field come round 1,
2022 – Cats list boss Stephen Wells said last week the club would work to keep its young talent – they could help regenerate the list.
Would Fremantle part with pick 27 for Clark as it works to claw a couple back for Adam Cerra? Long linked to Richmond, would Narkle fetch pick 40 or 44 from the Tigers?
Collingwood has reportedly been after Kreuger for two years and the Pies have four picks between 36 and 45. One of those would do the job.
The resultant hand would hardly be sexy for the Cats but they would then be in prime position to trade up multiple times.
While other clubs around them have used the draft to take a leap, the Cats haven’t landed a rising star nomination in two seasons.
From the past three drafts, just Clark (32 games), Atkins (57), Brad Close (30) and
Max Holmes (12) have worn the hoops more than eight times and, while promising, none so far scream future stars. Jacob Kennerley, Jake Tarca and Cam Taheny have come and gone without playing a match. Ben Jarvis lasted one.
On Friday night,
Melbourne sang the song with six players – Tom Sparrow, James Jordon, Luke Jackson, Kysaiah Pickett, Trent Rivers and Jake Bowey – in the circle from the TikTok age.
Imagine the difference Pickett and Jackson could have made to the Cats.
The pieces are there for the Cats to retool; it might just take sending some players out to usher in the future.