Geelong’s extraordinary premiership era has come to an end, North Melbourne great David King has declared.
The Cats slumped to a 0-3 start to the season after a 19-point loss to the Gold Coast Suns, leaving the reigning premiers as the only side in the competition yet to record a win after three rounds.
King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack he had underestimated Geelong in the past, but felt this slump was different to those of years gone by.
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Geelong Cats Press Conference | 10:21
“I know we’ve been in a hurry to say this for years and they won a flag last year, but I think we’ve seen the end of an era. I think the Cats are cooked, I really do,” he said.
“I don’t say that lightly because I’ve been one that’s jumped the gun on this a few years ago and undersold the absolute professionals at the top of the tree and their leaders in (Joel) Selwood and (Patrick) Dangerfield and (Tom) Hawkins and these guys and probably wasn’t sure what were they going to get out of Jeremy Cameron, was he going to be the answer last year.
“When I look at it now, the air has come out of the tyres a lot for the Cats. A lot has gone wrong at the start of the year. They’re chasing their game in terms of fitness, they’re chasing their game in terms of health, at 0-3 and just the look of their team now, I’ve never seen their midfield look so slow.
“They just look like they’re being out-hunted at the moment. I know there’d be some concerns in the Geelong coaches box. They’ll do their best to kick that can down the road, but right now that they’ve never looked in a state of disrepair defensively like they are at the minute.”
A stunning statistic from Sunday’s loss showed the Cats scored just one point from stoppage for the entire match, which King said had “never been seen before”.
Coupled with clear losses in both clearances and contested possessions, it was a sign of a declining empire according to King.
St Kilda champion Leigh Montagna agreed with King and said questions about the will to win of premiership stars would inevitably come.
Premiers languishing at bottom of ladder | 00:49
“I still think there‘s going to be an element throughout this year that they’ll look threatening and they might pose to be the old Geelong,” Montagna said.
“We did think eventually it was going to catch up with them. When I look at reality-wise, they are those champion stars 12 months older, you can’t hide from that fact.
“They now have their premiership medallion, so you just wonder even if it’s just one per cent, they’ve just lost that slight edge.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott admitted post-game the side was “a little bit off” and that the group went in “eyes wide open” to 2023.
King said that stance may not be the one held behind closed doors.
“You’re going to hear this from the coach and the coach is a great orator because he has a way of just sort of fudging things enough to not allow you to be alarmed,” he said.
“He massages things around.”
The Cats’ next clash will be against 17th-placed Hawthorn on Easter Monday.
