Cats have Viney on engine room radar

GEELONG is eyeing Melbourne free agent and former co-captain Jack Viney as an A-Grade addition to the Cats’ engine room.

The Cats have flagged their strong interest in landing either Viney or Adelaide best-and-fairest winner Brad Crouch in this year’s free agency period.

It is shaping up as another massive post-season for the equal premiership favourite who will also take three firstround picks into the national draft in December.

As a free agent, the Cats would be able to land Viney or Crouch to help shoulder the onball load alongside Joel Selwood without giving anything up in a trade.

Melbourne remains determined to keep Viney, 26, but is at risk of losing him for nothing as talks on a new contract threaten to drag on until after the season.

In any case, it would be an agonising departure for Viney who battled manfully to help lift the club from the doldrums when he was drafted in 2012 and, like his father Todd, helped captain the club for three seasons.

While the best-andfairest winner was dumped as skipper earlier in the year, Viney’s leadership, toughness, tackling pressure and unconditional competitiveness would be a loss for Melbourne. Importantly, he is seen as one of the most consistent performers at a club which has fought wild swings in form for the past 18 months.

The Demons’ midfield balance has also been a considerable talking point with the club unable to get the best out of their talented and hard-nosed midfield mix since the 2018 preliminary final loss to West Coast. Viney was initially disappointed to lose the co-captaincy role, but is said to have moved on quickly from the call to elevate Max Gawn as skipper.