Tom Hawkins, coming off a career-best year, and youngster Esava Ratugolea, who needs to stand up. Photo: AFL MEDIA

GEELONG
2020 record: 14 wins, 7 losses (2nd)

THE INS
Jeremy Cameron (GWS), Shaun Higgins (North Melbourne), Isaac Smith (Hawthorn), Max Holmes (Sandringham Dragons), Shannon Neale (South Fremantle), Nick Stevens (GWV Rebels), Paul Tsapatolis (Keilor Thunder – Big V Basketball)

THE OUTS
Gary Ablett (retired), Harry Taylor (retired), Jack Steven (retired), Nakia Cockatoo (Brisbane), Lachie Fogarty (Carlton), James Parsons (delisted), Jacob Kennerley (delisted), Blake Schlensog (delisted), Jake Tarca (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
When you find yourself up by 21 points late in the second quarter of a grand final, you’re not doing a whole lot wrong. The Cats’ methodical, skill-reliant game plan was so well-drilled and devastating for most of the year that it helped them ruthlessly pick apart some of the competition’s best teams such as Brisbane (twice including a final), Port Adelaide, St Kilda and Collingwood (also in the finals), making them all look second-rate in the process. Geelong had an average winning margin of 38 points, the best percentage in the league (136.8) and the No.1 attack by some margin – eight goals better than the next best, Port Adelaide. A driving force behind the Cats’ potency up forward was Tom Hawkins who, at 32 years of age, wound the clock back to play the best footy of his career on the way to winning his first Coleman Medal, third All-Australian nod and finishing with 30 more marks inside 50 than any other player in the league. And as if having the likes of Gary Rohan, Gryan Miers, Patrick Dangerfield, Sam Menegola, Rhys Stanley and Esava Ratugolea wasn’t already enough for him as a support cast in attack, Hawkins now has fellow Coleman Medal winner Jeremy Cameron playing alongside him in 2021. Not to mention recruits Shaun Higgins and Isaac Smith are also capable of drifting forward to kick some goals. The Cats have once again ensured that they will stay within reach of an elusive second flag under coach Chris Scott with yet another outstanding off-season recruiting spree. Outside of Hawthorn during its glory years, it’s hard to think of a more successful “destination club” than the Cats over the last 20 years – they just always seem to get who they want. The acquisitions of Higgins and Smith also ensure that Geelong’s already powerful midfield unit becomes even more deadly. Let’s not forget that it already contained Dangerfield, Menegola and Cameron Guthrie (three of the AFL’s top seven ball winners last year) as well as captain Joel Selwood, Mitch Duncan and Brandan Parfitt, the No.2 tackler in the league. The loss of the little master Gary Ablett will hardly be noticed. And you could mount the same argument for the retired Harry Taylor, because as good as he was over such a long period, their defensive unit of Mark Blicavs, Tom Stewart (No.2 in the AFL for rebounds), Zach Tuohy, Jack Henry, Jed Bews, Jake Kolodjashnij, Mark O’Connor and Lachie Henderson still stacks up as one of the best in the competition after being ranked fourth for fewest points conceded last season. When you combine Geelong’s general precision with the ball and the fact that on differentials they led the AFL in marks (with Stewart, Duncan, Menegola and Hawkins ranked one, two, four and seven respectively), disposals, uncontested marks, contested possessions (Dangerfield ranked second) and uncontested possessions, came in second for clearances and fourth for contested marks, it becomes even clearer as to why they made it to the grand final.

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THE WEAKNESSES
As good as Geelong is, there’s one thing getting in the way of it winning its first premiership since 2011 – the Richmond Football Club. The Tigers have become the Cats’ arch nemesis, beating them in six of their last seven meetings, including three from three in finals. The maddening thing for Geelong is that its last finals loss to Richmond in the 2020 grand final played out in almost identical fashion to the 2019 preliminary final. In both games, the Cats led by 21 points late in the first half, and in both games the Tigers responded ferociously with dominant second halves to turn the game on its head and run out convincing winners. Last year’s premiership decider would have been especially galling for Cats fans as their team had Richmond on toast in the first half but just could not capitalise on their dominance and land the killer blow. Enter Richmond champion Dustin Martin, who put on another finals masterclass to win an unprecedented third Norm Smith Medal. There’s no doubt that the inclusions of Cameron, Higgins and Smith gives Geelong a different look and the team every opportunity of righting the wrongs of recent years and finally getting over the yellow-and-black hump. But if the Cats can’t vanquish the back-to-back reigning champs in 2021, their efforts will once again probably be all in vain, adding to their years of frustration of being close but not quite good enough. One area on the ground where the Cats look slightly vulnerable is the ruck division. Rhys Stanley is serviceable, but he isn’t an upper-echelon ruckman and will need chop-outs from Mark Blicavs and Esava Ratugolea throughout the year. Also, a by-product of Geelong being smack bang in the middle of a premiership window is that they don’t have too many youngsters coming through aside from Parfitt, Miers, O’Connor and Ratugolea. Grand final player Sam Simpson (nine games in 2020) and Jordan Clark (three) should get more opportunities this year, but as promising as Brad Close, Quinton Narkle and Charlie Constable appear to be, it’s hard to see them playing regularly.

ONE TO WATCH
Simpson might have been squeezed out of the 22 for now as a result of Higgins and Smith coming in, but he was so impressive last year that it would be surprising if he didn’t establish himself as a regular by the end of this season as he did in 2020. He’s a sound decision maker, cool under pressure, can hit a target and he’s only 22.

UNDER THE PUMP
Ratugolea might only be 22 as well, but 2021 looms as the first big test of his fledgling career. He was so impressive in 2019 as a ruckman/forward and played a key role in their run to a preliminary final. But last year he struggled to recapture that form, kicking only five goals from 12 games before being dropped for the finals series. This writer still thinks he can have a huge impact this year with Hawkins and Cameron getting the best two defenders each week, but it’s not going to just happen for him, and he has to apply himself like he did a couple of seasons back.

BEST 22
B: Lachie Henderson, Jack Henry, Jake Kolodjashnij
HB: Tom Stewart, Mark Blicavs, Zach Tuohy
C: Sam Menegola, Mitch Duncan, Cameron Guthrie
HF: Gryan Miers, Jeremy Cameron, Shaun Higgins
F: Esava Ratugolea, Tom Hawkins, Gary Rohan
R: Rhys Stanley, Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood
Inter: Brandan Parfitt, Isaac Smith, Mark O’Connor, Jed Bews
Emerg: Luke Dahlhaus, Sam Simpson, Tom Atkins, Jordan Clark

Despite his absence from last year’s finals, Ratugolea finds himself in a forward pocket to not only act as a third tall target in attack but also as back-up for Stanley in the ruck. So stacked is Geelong’s midfield that Parfitt and Smith start on the bench while Dahlhaus and Simpson are squeezed out into the emergencies for now given how their team has become even stronger in the off-season. It’s a good problem for Scott to have.