Geelong premiership stars Mitch Duncan and Jeremy Cameron say there is no reason why the Cats’ strategic drafting and trading, and the benefit of being in a regional town, cannot ensure they remain in premiership contention for many years ahead.
And in an ominous warning to rivals for season 2023, Duncan, now a two-time premiership player, believes the Cats can only get better, despite finishing this season two games clear atop the ladder, and storming to an 81-point win over the Swans on Saturday with the oldest team in VFL/AFL history.
Veteran midfielder Mitch Duncan has praised the Cats’ list management for keeping the team in premiership contention.Credit:Scott Barbour
“We keep striving to get better. We have really good people in important places. I still think we can get better as a team, we have had great growth from so many players this year that can take it again, and keep us more experienced players on our toes, because we still need to keep getting better as well,” Duncan told The Age.
“The list management team has always given us an opportunity to contend. Sometimes you fall short having a crack, that’s OK, but we butter up, a proud group that responds well.”
Duncan has as good a grasp of the Cats’ recruiting secrets as anyone, having been a key cog of the side over the past decade when they regularly fell just short of the ultimate success, yet missed the finals only once.
That captain Joel Selwood has not only broken Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck’s record for most finals, but has more finals wins than St Kilda, highlights how successful the Cats have been in revamping their list on the run, despite their last flag before Saturday coming in 2011.
The lure of western Victoria, complete with the regional and beach lifestyles, has given the Cats a benefit perhaps only the Gold Coast Suns could provide – although the Suns do not yet have a winning DNA.
Tyson Stengle celebrates a goal with Jeremy Cameron.Credit:Scott Barbour
Players who grow up in the local area and are drafted by the Cats rarely want to leave, generally accepting less dollars to stay, while the desire to get home often burns for superstars drafted elsewhere, this playing a key part in Patrick Dangerfield’s decision to leave the Adelaide Crows, and Jeremy Cameron’s to depart Greater Western Sydney.
The robust Dangerfield, a Geelong Falcons product, and blue-chip forward Cameron, taken from the then North Ballarat Rebels, were instrumental in the Cats’ finals push, the former unlucky to not be named the Norm Smith medallist.
The Cats, backing their strong culture under Selwood, have also been excellent in fulfilling their needs through targeted trading and free agency, the decision to take a chance on delisted free agent Tyson Stengle – now an All-Australian and premiership player – one of the league’s savviest over the past decade.
The Cats have already been busy preparing for 2023, and life beyond Selwood and Dangerfield. They recently fell just short of luring Jacob Hopper, a Rebels graduate, from the Giants (Hopper nominating the Tigers), but have another Giant Tanner Bruhn, once a Falcon, nominating the club as his preferred destination when the trade period opens next week.
Mitch Duncan celebrates the moment with Tom Hawkins.Credit:AFL Photos
Cameron, having banished memories of the losing ’19 grand final as a Giant, said the Cats’ list management had found just the right blend.
“I have only been here for two years – what they have been able to do for a long time before that is incredible, isn’t it?” Cameron said.
“It’s funny. You sort of sit back and go: ‘If I go to Geelong, I knew they were old, but I knew they had players that just want to win; players that just want to step up, players that just want to get there’.
“If you go through the whole list, everyone has come from different places. Tom Stewart, an incredible story, (Zach) Tuohy, Mitchy Duncan has tasted that (premiership) before, all these years later, he goes again. ‘Danger’ hasn’t been there before, he wants to win one. A lot of them are homegrown heroes now.
“There is this mix of experience and being there before, knowing what it’s like, and a mix of ‘We are so hungry, we haven’t tasted it before’, like myself. Wonderful things happen.”
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