CATS STILL A SERIOUS CONTENDER IN 2022
Geelong has plenty of firepower and class to take on the competition’s best
HERE we go again.
Much like most of the years that have come before in the past decade, Cats fans are gearing up for another season dreaming of the ultimate success.
Like most of those past years, there are sexier picks around the league to withstand Geelong and lift the trophy.
How could you look past Melbourne, who buried their demons of the past with a withering burst of centre-square footy in the grand final that pushed the Western Bulldogs through the gates of hell.
The Dogs, themselves, will be back even if they have to withstand bizarre motivational history lessons from Luke Beveridge.
Dustin Martin is still here, leaner than ever, and the Brisbane Lions are primed better than they have been under Chris Fagan, following consecutive top-four finishes.
You can bet your life there will be a team from nowhere that is hot property after the first six rounds. Could Essendon or Carlton awaken their considerable, but dormant, fan bases with a finals run?
In all that chaos of teams jockeying for position, the Cats have generally kept their heads above water.
With a slicker game plan in the works, Geelong is planning on making the most of its biggest advantage before it is too late.
Of the flag contenders, perhaps only Richmond can boast the blueribbon quality of Geelong’s twopronged forward pair in Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins.
Last year, all eyes were on the duo, but persistent hamstring strains for Cameron robbed fans of a chance to properly get a look at the pair.
He has barely missed a beat throughout summer and appeared active and moved freely in practice matches, while Hawkins has become a modern marvel for his consistency after the age of 30.
The pair combined to kick 101 goals in 2021 and if Geelong backs up its work and moves the ball to them quicker this season, 130 is on the cards.
If Tyson Stengle can add more than 30 as the electrifying small forward the Cats have been missing in the past few years; Esava Ratugolea can catch the ball more consistently and add a similar total; Gary Rohan contribute when called on; and Patrick Dangerfield sneak into the forward half when required, Geelong should have the most potent forward line in the league.
The Cats finished a middling seventh for points-for last year, averag
Of the flag contenders, perhaps only Richmond can boast the blue-ribbon quality of Geelong’s two-pronged forward Cameron pair in Jeremy and Tom Hawkins.
ing a tick under 84 points a game.
It has always been far too simplistic to say that teams should attack and score more, but adding a goal or two to that total a game would make the Cats so much harder to beat.
They have the firepower and the dream of Cameron roaming the wings, winning the ball and putting it down Hawkins’ throat, but it will need to come to fruition over and over for the Cats to complete that leap back into flag favourite status.
Talk around Geelong often centres on the ageing brigade and the faith put in players over 30, but coach Chris Scott believes it is the players younger than that who will make the difference this year.
After Jack Henry made the leap from role player to second in the bestand-fairest in 2021, the Cats need players in that age group to follow the same path.
If Zach Guthrie can finally lock down a place at half-back, if Sam Simpson shakes off his injury woes, and if Brandan Parfitt steps up from being an average midfielder to a budding star, that premiership gap closes again.
There are a lot of “ifs” in this column. Every club needs things to go right to win the premiership and Geelong might need more things to fall in its favour than any other contender.
The question many fans have asked themselves since that dark preliminary final belting last year was whether the club was deluded, bashing its head against the wall only to find the same answer each time?
But bottoming out and investing in youth does not automatically make a club a contender in five years’ time, neither does replacing a coach and starting again.
It takes so much to go right to get close to the top four – ask any Carlton or Essendon fan of the past 20 years – that when you are there, you should do everything you can to try and win it all.
Sometimes the ifs, buts and maybes work against you, as it has for Geelong in September in the past decade.
But the Cats will again put themselves in a position to win it all in 2022, and as a fan of the hoops, what more could you really ask for from your club than to try and win the premiership?