Team lineup here

Ins: Brooke Plummer

Outs: Julia Crockett-Grills (Injured)

​

Venue: GMHBA

First Bounce: 7:15pm AEDT, 1/11

Team lineup here

Ins: Amy McDonald, Rachel Kearns

Outs: Gabbi Featherston (Injured), Chantal Mason (Injured)

Venue: Mineral Resources Park

First Bounce: 6:05pm AEDT, 26/10

*Just a note to begin. I started writing this a few days after our prelim, so sorry if some of the ratings are inconsistent. Life happened and I forgot all about writing this about halfway through. So yeah, sorry if some ratings get a bit inconsistent and the summary's aren't the same structure across the board! Also, the gradings are for the players season, not as an overall player.

Now that the season has hit an end, and I've finally calmed down after losing the prelim, I wanted to provide a little review and season rating for each player. I encourage you all to chime in and make a case for anyone that you think should be rated higher or lower! I'll go by jumper numbers...

*There are times thoughout where I'll mention 'only missed one game all season' or something similar. I forgot the bye was a thing *facepalm*. If you see me talking about only missing 'x' games, subtract one from it.

1. Rhys Stanley

Ever the devisive figure. Played 14 games for the season, and was often soundly beaten in the ruck contests. I don't think it's unfair to say he wouldn't have played nearly as many games this year if Conway had stayed fit. Put together some good games towards the end of the season but ultimately wasn't good enough this year for a side competing for a premiership. Is a handy guy to have as back-up, but personally I'm hoping Conway stays fit and really develops next year. Some people may think I'm being harsh, but when you look at the premier ruckmen of the comp, he's just a step below.

Grading: D+

2. Zach Tuohy

Going out with his head held relatively high. He has dropped off over the last couple seasons, particularly after having a fantastic 2022. Definitely seemed to me that age started to catch up with him. I thought he actually started the season quite well and then dropped off as the season wore on, with the highlight being kicking 3 goals against the blue baggers. Goes out as one of the greatest Irishman to play AFL

Grading: C

3. Brandon Parfitt

Only played 9 games for the season, but probably deserved to play a couple more. I found it strange we didn't give him more of a go, especially while we had that period of being a bit crap in the middle of the season. Averaged 17 touches, 6 tackles and 5 clearances in the games he did play. I suppose he suffered from having Atkins already doing the tackling midfielder role well and just didn't find a consistent enough patch of form. I'm a little sad to see him go, but I trust the coaches and they've obviously decided he isn't fully up to scratch.

Grading: C+

4. Tanner Bruhn

Another good season under the belt for the young fella. Unfortunately for Bruhn he spent a third of the season injured. Bruhn averaged an extra disposal per game, as well as 2 extra clearances per game, when compared to last year. He also kept the rest of his stats relatively steady, showing an overall improvement on his game. Bruhn was arguably our best player on a number of occasions this year and is really beginning to grow in to his own game. He had a couple games throughout the season where he did go missing a little bit, but that can be expected of a younger mid. I'm hoping he can have a great off-season and pack on a bit of muscle and grow in to his body to find that consistency. If he can continue improving his disposal and clearance numbers, he's going to be fantastic.

Grading: B+

5. Jeremy Cameron

Still the best player in the comp on his day. He became even more important to our team this year, especially with Hawkins being out of form early in the season and Neale still being fresh. Jez only missed 2 games this year which is fantastic considering he has struggled with injuries at times in the past. Jezza averaged 2.7 goals a game and 16 touches for the third year running. The only thing that let him down ever so slightly was a small drop in goal accuracy (51% compared to 55% career average). Snagged 64.41 for the year. Admittedly he did have a little bit of a lean run by his own standards through the middle of the year, as did the rest of the team. Made up for it by kicking bags of 6 and 9 in the last few games of the season. He's going to be one of the hardest players to replace when he eventually decides to bow out. Thankfully, shouldn't be for a while yet!

Rating: A

6. Toby Conway

Despite only getting on the park 5 times, he showed that he has the tools to compete. Due to a lack of games I don't have heaps to say. He managed to compete pretty well against some of the better rucks in the comp. If he manages to keep his body right and gets some consistent game time in 2025, I expect him to become our number 1 ruckman for a long time. Would be giving him a higher grading if he'd have kept himself on the park for longer (I know it's not necessarily his own fault, just hard to give a high rating off small sample size).

Grading: C

7. Shaun Mannagh

So guys, we did it again. Plucked a mature ager that everyone overlooked from nowhere and turned them in to a jet. So glad he went away and worked on whatever the coaches wanted him to during the season because he was immense in the last part of the season. Played 12 games for the season averaging 16 touches, 3 clearances and a goal as a medium forward/midfield hybrid. Totaled 15.12 for the season. Also brought some consistent tackling heat with 4.5 tackles a game. Throw on top an average of 6 score involvements for the year and he has quickly become one of our more important players in linking up and getting the ball in to the hands of our forwards. Mannagh is extremely craft around the goals, often popping up and grabbing a goal out of nothing. Hopefully he can improve even more next year, but even if he just keeps his output the same, he'll be fantastic.

Rating: A-

8. Jake Kolodjashnij

Feel like Jake (not spelling his last name out again) is one of those players that just flies under the radar and does his job relatively well. He is prone to having a stinker here and there, but so are 99% of the players in the comp. We don't get torn open by key forwards too often and that's usually because kolo just gets the job done on whoever he's playing on. Not much else to say other than another relatively consistent season for a quietly good player

Rating C+

9. Max Holmes

I'll start off by saying our best player this season for mine. Only dropped below 20 touches once. When he went off in the prelim against the Lions, we lost all our run through the middle. He is absolutely the glue of the team. Only missed one game this year, averaging 24 touches, 560 meters gained, 3 tackles and 3 clearances. This year was his biggest increase in output yet, solidifying himself as an A-grader of the comp. To think that Holmes still has the potential to keep improving as well, given he's only 22, is crazy. I'd love to see him in the guts more next year to see how good he could be as a 'go and get it' type. In saying that, if we land Baz and Oliver, that mightn't happen. Slotted some great goals throughout the season too, kicking13.6. As I said, my pick for our best player this year. I cannot wait to see him continue to improve.

Grading: A+

10. Mitch Knevitt

Got on the park 3 times. 2 of those were late in games we'd already lost. Looked decent against the bombers. Not much to say as not enough game time.

Grading: C

11. Mitchell Edwards

Didn't feature for the AFL side,

Grading: N/A

12. Jack Bowes

Decent season for Bowes, improved on a decent 2023. Played 22 games, was a little up and down at times, but his best this year was really good, Played a similar roll to Holmes, being a half-back/midfield hybrid. Probably spent more time in the middle than Holmes although I haven't checked that. Averaged 18 touches, 5 tackles and 3.5 clearances for the year. Will be interesting to see what his role is with Smith and possibly Oliver coming in to the team. Does he continue to get midfield minutes? Does he stay at half-back? I feel like he definitely has the potential to take his game up another notch, considering he became a pretty important player with our midfield structure this year. Was also handy around the big sticks, grabbing 12.8 for the year.

Grading: B+

13. Jhye Clark

Coming in to the season, I was hoping for a little more from Clark (although that's not necessarily his fault). He did show a lot of glimpses this season of what he can do. Plays a very similar role to Atkins which I think hurts his play time a little considering how reliable Atkins has been for us. Got on the park 16 times for an average of 12 touches, 2 clearances and 3 tackles. The one thing I have been very impressed with from Clark, is that he is clearly a very footy smart guy. He reads the game really well and knows where to be. He's just lacking in a bit of size. I think if he bulks up over the next year or two, he'd be more than ready to take over from Atkins as being that grunt guy. I don't *want* to lose him, but I wouldn't be surprised if we send him to Melbourne in a deal for Oliver. As I said, bags of potential and is a very footy smart guy, just needs to work on himself physically to be able to mix it at AFL level.

Grading: C-

14. Connor O'Sullivan

Made his Debut against North in round 5 then didn't play again. From all reports he had a very good VFL season playing a similar role to Blicavs. Not much to report as he only had the one game.

Grading: C

15. George Stevens

Didn't feature at AFL level

Grading: N/A

16. Sam De Koning

Bit of a rollercoaster season for Sam. He's lost a lot of his form in defense ever since that facial injury. His intercept numbers this season were down a fair bit on his career average, but what I want to focus on is the few games he played in the ruck this season. Had a run of 5 games where he shared the ruck duties with Blicavs and looked pretty good. He did average hit-out wise but the thing I liked the most was his ability to be able to get the ball. In this run of games he gathered 20+ disposals every game and averaged about 4 clearances. If he can improve his actual ruck skills then he could definitely be a viable option moving forward.

Grading: C

17. Lawson Humphries

Wowee, what a jet. Same as Mannagh, yet another late draft pick that looks like they've got all the goods. Broke in to the team in round 16 against the Bombers and never looked back. Averaged 17 touches in the handful of games he did play as well as a couple tackles. The thing that stands out the most to me is the 85% disposal efficiency off of half back and the ability to nail a target with either foot. Humphries really helped us be able to link up between half back and half forward, in a period where we were seemingly struggling with that a bit. Also, the winning goal against Adelaide was nothing but class.

Grading: A

18. Tyson Stengle

Stengle was back towards his best this year, righting the ship after a pretty quiet 2023. Still didn't quite reach the heights of 2022, but that's a tough season to top. Averaged 1.8 goals off of 13 touches as a small forward. With totals of 46.18 for the season. Averaged a tick over 6 score involvements, similar to Mannagh. Stengle is always so dangerous around goals, so often does he find a way to rip it out of a congested area and weave around a couple to snag a goal. Had that 'incident' mid way through the year. No more of that thanks Tyson. Probably deserved an AA spot, was the best genuine small forward in the comp this year for mine. Shame he played his worst game for the club in the prelim...

Grading: A

19. Phoenix Foster

Didn't feature for the club at AFL level

Grading: N/A

20. James Willis

Didn't feature for the club at AFL Level

Grading: N/A

21. Oliver Wiltshire

Didn't feature for the club at AFL level

Grading: N/A

22. Mitch Duncan

Had a steady year old Mitch. Stats wise, he had his 'worst' season for the club since the first couple of years of his career. This is mainly due to being played off of half-back rather than the midfield role we watched him dominate for so long. Averaged 18 touches over 22 games. Actually started off the year quite well having a lot of 20+ disposal games but fell off a little towards the end of the year. Was still very serviceable and played his role pretty well for mine. I do think we'll see him phased out a bit next year. The champ is starting to get on a bit.

Grading: C+

23. Gary Rohan

Personally, I don't feel he had much impact this year. Got on the park 12 times in a heavily injury affected season. Kicked a couple goals in a few games where we had cruisy wins. Statistically he had his worst season as a Cat, averaging 0.8 goals a game for 9.1 on the season. Given all the head injuries (that cracked skull was nasty) I'd be surprised if another team picks him up. Is still an absolute dead eye in front of the sticks though. Might get a gig at somewhere like Richmond for a year? Will always love him for the goal after the siren against the Dogs (brother is a dogs supporter) and pretty much dragging us over the line against Collingwood in 2022. Unfortunately his body has finally fully caught up with him.

Grading; D

24. Jed Bews

I don't want to be too harsh of Bews considering he only got on the park 5 times. 3 of those appearances were in big wins where he didn't have much to do and one was in the prelim against Brisbane where I think he was one of our least affective players. He has done brilliant shut down roles in the past on some of the comps best smalls, but I don't think he will feature for us much next year. Has never been a massive accumulator, averaged 10 disposals in his handful of games.

Rating: D

26. Tom Hawkins

Still can't believe he's actually retired. Has been a complete champion of the game for so long, it feels wrong not having him in the comp. Unfortunately, his body just gave out on him. He lost that burst of speed he used to have to create that separation with his defender, which lead to defenders being able to just hang out the back and spoil/mark. Would have loved for him to get to 800 but it wasn't to be. Averaged 1.3 goals a game, which is his worst return since 2010, totaling 15.8 for the season. Also only averaged 50 fantasy points, which is his worst since debuting in 2007, which shows his involvement in general play has fallen off. Still did well when tasked with the forward 50 ruck contests. As I said, goes out a legend, is an A+ player in all our hearts, but for this season specifically, gee it pains me to do this...

Grading: D

28. Oliver Dempsey

Fantastic breakout season for the Rising Star! Was super consistent all season on the wing. Averaged 17 touches and a goal, totaling 22.13 for the season. I'm super impressed by his seamless transition to the wing, after having originally been drafted as a forward. Had a period early/ mid-way through the season where he was ranked within the top 5 wingman of the whole comp. Averaged a direct goal assist per game as well as showing good overhead marking ability. He's absolutely gonna take mark of the year at some point. His ability to push down the wing and pick up goals is awesome, but it can at times leave us a little open. Needs to work on his defensive work-rate a little more and he'll become the complete package.

Grading: A-

29. Cameron Guthrie

Feels weird to say he actually played in 4 games this year. Racked up 27 touches in our first game against the Blues but then didn't do much and got injured. His body is just cooked unfortunately. I'd be surprised if he gets a consistent run next year, as much as I love him. I judged Bews off of 5 games so I guess 4 is fine too... *sigh*

Grading: D

30. Tom Atkins

Still a tackling machine. Actually had a little bit of a drop off from last year but his stats pretty closely mirror his 2022 form. Played 22 games for an average of 17 touches, 6.5 tackles and 3.5 clearances. He's so important in terms of putting the pressure on the opposition in the middle of the ground and creating those stoppages if we don't win the ball first time. Has a contested possession rate of a tick over 50%. Does the hard nut role as good as anyone we have at the moment. Was pretty consistent all season, only had 1 or 2 'bad' games. Will be interesting to see if he still gets a look in next year if we get Smith and Oliver. I reckon he probably will.

Grading: B

31. Oscar Murdoch

Didn't feature at AFL level

Grading: N/A

32. Gryan Miers

The Messi of the AFL. Averaged 20 touches, 4 tackles and 2.5 clearances starting as a forward moving up the ground in to that midfield role. Also had his best average goal return since 2021. For me, this is probably his best season so far. So happy he's maturing in to a fantastic overall player, with being arguably our best kick inside 50. Averaged 1 direct goal assist a game while also averaging 6.5 score involvements per game. Also averaged 1.2 'score launches' per game. He's so important to this team in terms of linking up the play and getting the ball in to the hands of our potent forwards. That cross to O. Henry in the prelim was one of the best things I've seen on a football field in years. One of the highest IQ players in the game and has come along in leaps and bounds from the early days of people wanting him dropped (including myself at times). Props to him for transforming his game in to being a creative mastermind. Also had his best goal kicking year since 2019, snagging 21.12.

Grading: A+

33. Shannon Neale

Grabbed his opportunity this year with both hands and didn't let go. Obviously we're all upset about Hawkins, but the bright spot is this guy finally getting a proper go. Played 15 games and averaged 1.5 goals as well as a couple tackles which is good for a big fella. Kicked 23.11. Seems to be a pretty accurate set shot as well. Scored a goal in every game he played this year, except the prelim final. Hopefully over the off-season he works on his pack-work and marking. Gets in fantastic positions sometimes and just doesn't quite bring the ball down with him at times. I have noticed at times as well he can get too focused on trying to mark the ball, rather than just bringing it to ground in the forward 50. Overall, this guy has all the tools to be our long term Hawkins replacement, just needs to keep working on 1 or 2 things and he'll be a gun. I've got full faith in him.

Grading; B

34. Oisin Mullin

Another devisive figure amongst the fans. I don't want to be too harsh, considering he doesn't come from an AFL background and its only his second season. Played 12 games for an average of 10 touches and 2.5 tackles. I just don't think his skills are up to AFL standard yet. He looks like a fantastic athlete, but at the moment just lacks the footy smarts and skills. Who knows how he could turn out if he develops for another season or 2. Played decently in a couple games as a run-with/shut down player but I don't know if he's done enough to keep his place permanently next year.

Grading: D

35. Patrick Dangerfield

Danger is ageing like a fine wine. I don't think it would be out of place to say he's still our most impactful midfielder. I don't think it was any coincidence that our drop in form mid-year coincided with Dangerfield not being in the team. In games Danger played this year, we won 12/16 of them. In games he didn't play, we only won 4/9. Dangers stats are having a steady drop off year by year, but I imagine this is mainly due to reduced game-time as he just doesn't know how to preserve his body, always giving it 110% effort (which is a good thing). Danger averaged 20 touches, 5 clearances and 4 tackles for the year. Given he's a 34 year old and the way in which he plays, his output is still extremely crucial. If we can keep him fit and firing again for next year, I think we'll be in amongst it at the pointy end once again. Gonna be an extremely hard man to replace.

Grading: A

36. Oliver Henry

When looking in to his stats, I actually thought he was a little less accurate than what his goal efficiency turns out to be. Maybe the 4.4 against the Eagles and the early miss against Brisbane (despite snagging 4) are still fresh in the mind. Ollie actually had a down year in pretty much all of his stats when compared to last year. I suspect this is probably due to not being relied upon as heavily as last year, with all of our smalls being in form this year. Booted 37.18 for the year off an average of 9 touches. I'm super keen to see him keep developing, I think the recent finals series will be great experience for him. Just needs to work on his set shot accuracy. I wouldn't trust him after the siren at the moment.

Grading: B

37. Joe Furphy

Didn't feature at AFL level

Grading: N/A

38. Jack Henry

Jack continues to be a pretty under the radar achiever. Had a few games throughout the year where his opponent got the better of him, but it didn't happen heaps. Had a small bump in some of his numbers while keeping everything else steady. Averaged 2.7 intercept marks for the year as well as 4.6 spoils. Played every game this year after having a couple injuries over the last couple years which is probably what he needed to be able to build some consistency in his game again. I think he had a pretty similar year to Kolo in that he just quietly went about his job and got it done more often than not. Actually had his highest average intercept marks per game, up from his previous best in 2021 of 2.3. Solid season from a player that doesn't need to be a stand out in a very solid defence.

Grading: C+

39. Zach Guthrie

What a player this guy has become. I'll admit, I was one of the people calling for his head early on in his career. I distinctly remember a game against the Hawks where he got absolutely bullied by Roughhead when the scores were tied with not much time on the clock. Jarryd kicked a point and we lost. Boy am I glad he's come on in leaps and bounds since then. Played every game and had his best year stats-wise. Averaged 18 touches, 6 marks, 2.2 intercept marks, 2.4 tackles and 2.2 spoils. A stat that was a little hard to fine, but, Guthrie averaged 5.2 rebound 50's per game, which seems huge. I'm going to go back through and look at our other defenders for this stat. Also went at a tick under 80% disposal efficiency. *Just checked, this is the second most rebound 50's from a listed defender on the team, behind Stewart, who played a lot of the season in midfield. The next highest behind Guthrie for a listed defender was Tuohy with 3.7.

Grading: A

40. Ted Clohesy

Got on the park twice as a sub with not much time left in the game. Will rate him the same as Knevitt.

Grading: C

41. Mitch Hardie

Didn't feature at AFL level

Grading: N/A

42. Mark O'Connor

Played the first 2 thirds of the season and then didn't feature after round 16. Didn't really set the world alight in the game time he got this season. He's still a very handy player as a tagger/ run-with with his tackling being his stand out attribute for mine. Averaged 12 touches, 4 marks and 3 tackles. I don't know how much game time we'll see him get next year. Seems to have fallen out of favour and in my mind is very much a situational type player. I think there's a reason we didn't see him feature in the crunch end of the season.

Grading: D+

43. Emerson Jeka

Didn't feature at AFL level

Grading: N/A

44. Tom Stewart

What can't this man do? Got bored of being the best defender in the league so decided he'd go and be one of the best midfielders instead. In all seriousness though, Stewart rotating in to the midfield was a huge revelation in our season. He was getting tagged out of games in defence early in the season and going in to the middle of the park got him involved again. Most of his main stats were down on previous seasons due to the switch in position, but his improvements in tackling, with 3 a game, and clearances with 1.7 a game were big for our midfield. Also averaged 7.5 contested possessions through the middle.

Grading: A

45. Brad Close

Close continues to be a sneakily handy forward. Averaged a goal a game, kicking 25.12 for the season. Also averaged just under 13 touches and a touch over 2 tackles a game. Close's goal kicking form dropped off at the tail end of the season, otherwise he likely would've had 30+. Averaged a direct goal assist a game as well as 5.3 score involvements. The thing that impresses me the most about Close is his pressure in the forward 50. Always seems to be one of the guys going at whatever defender has the ball in our front half.

Grading: B-

46. Mark Blicavs

Our swiss army knife. Spent most of the season rotating through the ruck and defence. Actually had a down year stats wise when compared to last year, but I suspect that's due to him spending a bit more time in defence this year than last. Averaged 14 disposals, 3.6 tackles and 2.4 clearances. Also averaged 9.6 hitouts, which is his lowest in a few years but as I said I feel he spent more time down back this year. One of the things I like the most about Blicavs is something you can't really keep a stat for, he keeps the opposition ruckman extremely busy. We all know Blicavs has a massive tank and just runs all day. This forces the other ruckman to go with him otherwise he'll get loose and can hurt opposition teams with his good defensive work on the wings and in the d50.

Grading: B

Hopefully some of you enjoy reading through my disjointed write up! Remember, all of what I've written is purely my own thoughts. I'm not trying to be nasty to any of the players, nor anyone who rates players I've rated a bit low. Absolutely happy to have civil discussion with you all about gradings, missed statistics, or simply fawning over how good some of the boys were this season.

Overall, super impressed with the team this year, considering a lot of 'experts' had us in the bottom 4 before the season started. We saw a lot of the old firm continue to impress while having some young players taking huge leaps in their games. The recent finals campaign will do the younger guys the world of good and I expect players like Dempsey, Holmes, Bruhn and Humphries to take even more steps next year. With the addition of Bailey Smith our midfield takes on a new look. Hopefully the ACL hasn't affected him too much and he can get back to his best footy. Very happy with the direction the club continues to head in and I'm already excited to see what we can bring to the table next season!

Thoughts

=(

Team lineup here

Ins: Shelley Scott, Chantal Mason

Outs: Rachel Kearns (Injured), Darcy Moloney (Injured)

New: Chantal Mason

​

Venue: GMHBA

First Bounce: 1:05pm AEDT, 20/10

I want to purchase a membership, probably the 3 game one. But I don't quite understand how the GA is gonna work. Are the 3 games covered already (as in I don't have to purchase tickets with $) to that game? And is it likely to find 3+ seats available in GA anyway?

Or at least what's left of it lol

why is it when geelong supporters and stating our own opinions on stuff especially when it’s regarding to our own TEAM for crying out lot, we tend to either get downvoted or they are always right we are always wrong like i’ve seen it a lot with bailey smith lately and even other stuff

like surely our takes aren’t that terrible are they lol.

but yeah would like to know your thoughts on this cheers.

Now that the trade period is over, I wondered who everyone thinks we would target obviously jack martin, but i can also see us going after Alex Withereden former falcon relatively young. I can see us going after either Preuss or Crossley but i think other teams probably have the same plan. Would also love to see culley in the hoops.

Can’t help feel sorry for Parf. What do people think of his chances of getting picked up as a Delisted Free Agent?