Tom Stewart continued to stake a claim as the AFL’s best defender in 2021 with a third All-Australian gong. Photo: AFL MEDIA

GEELONG
2021 record: 17 wins, 8 losses (4th)

THE INS
Jonathon Ceglar (Hawthorn), Tyson Stengle (Adelaide/Woodville-West Torrens), Toby Conway (Geelong Falcons), Mitchell Knevitt (Geelong Falcons), James Willis (North Adelaide), Flynn Kroeger (Eastern Ranges), Cooper Whyte (Geelong Falcons), Oliver Dempsey (Old Carey Grammarians)

THE OUTS
Lachie Henderson (retired), Jordan Clark (Fremantle), Josh Jenkins (retired), Darcy Fort (Brisbane), Charlie Constable (delisted – Gold Coast), Nathan Kreuger (Collingwood), Ben Jarvis (delisted), Oscar Brownless (delisted), Stefan Okunbor (retired), Cameron Taheny (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
The “three-headed monster” up forward proved a handful for many teams last year. Tom Hawkins (62), Jeremy Cameron (39) and Gary Rohan (32) combined for 133 goals in 2021 – a figure the Cats will be hoping will increase this year considering Cameron missed 10 games due to injury last season. And there’s certainly no reason Hawkins can’t be expected to continue producing the goods. The 33-year-old is ageing like a fine wine, booting his biggest tally of goals last year since 2014 and clinching his third consecutive All-Australian jumper. Down the other end of the ground, Tom Stewart continued to stake his claim as the best defender in the AFL, earning his third All-Australian and winning the Cats’ best-and-fairest despite missing five games due to a foot injury. Stewart was a huge reason behind Geelong’s defence being ranked No.2 in the league but he certainly found solid support in the form of Zach Tuohy, Jake Kolodjashnij, Jack Henry, Jed Bews and Mark Blicavs. Hawkins, Stewart, Rohan and Henry were big reasons the Cats were ranked fourth for contested marks on differentials last year. And the back six were certainly assisted in the middle of the park, where the Cats still possess some exceptional talent. Cam Guthrie rose to even greater heights than his 2020 All-Australian campaign and enjoyed the best season of his 12-year career, but somehow missed out on a second green blazer. Mitch Duncan, Patrick Dangerfield, Isaac Smith, Sam Menegola and Brandan Parfitt form a formidable nucleus along with Guthrie, and although captain Joel Selwood is starting to look like just a player at the end of his career, he still adds value. Thanks largely to them, Geelong was ranked second on differentials for clearances in 2021 and conceded the second-fewest inside 50s to the opposition. The year certainly didn’t end the way the Cats would have liked, but they were just a kick after the siren away from a minor premiership. A 13th home-and-away top-four finish and 12th preliminary final from the past 18 years continued the club’s incredible consistency over a long period of time.

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THE WEAKNESSES
The Cats find themselves in a real bind. On the one hand, they keep pushing deep into the finals, but on the other, they continue to be found out badly at the most important time of the year. Since their last premiership in 2011, the Cats’ finals record is a dismal 7-15 – their best performance in the past decade in the most important month was 2020, when they won 50 per cent of their finals on the way to the grand final. The gap between Geelong and the competition benchmark was already pretty stark a couple of years ago when Richmond blew them away in the second half of the grand final to win by 31 points, and that gap widened significantly last year. First up, the Cats were thumped by Port Adelaide by 43 points and then in the preliminary final, they were absolutely obliterated by Melbourne to the tune of 83 points – their biggest loss since 2014. In fact, for three years between 2018-2020, Geelong didn’t lose a game by more than 34 points, yet last year it suffered three such losses and they were all against league heavyweights Melbourne (83), Brisbane (44) and Port Adelaide (43). The Cats’ five worst losses of 2021 were all against top-eight teams. Yet they continually put themselves in positions to challenge for the flag, and even though Lachie Henderson and Josh Jenkins have retired, still head into the new season with the oldest list in the competition, having loaded up again with Jonathon Ceglar from the Hawks, a year after bringing Cameron, Smith and Shaun Higgins to the club. You can’t really blame them, after all they did make it to another preliminary final last year. But while the doomsayers almost always predict a Geelong downfall around about this time of year and are almost always proved wrong, one really does wonder whether the Cats finally fall off that cliff in 2022 after such a long period of sustained competitiveness. Their positives from 2021 outlined earlier in this piece are numerous, but how often can they keep going to the well? That will be one of the more intriguing questions of 2022. There were really worrying signs in the finals from Selwood in particular – at times it looked like the game had gone past him. And it’s a good thing they went out and got Ceglar, because once again the ruck department was a huge issue for them last year. No doubt Rhys Stanley played some very good games in there, but he needs help and can’t do it on his own. Esava Ratugolea is not a natural ruckman, and neither is Mark Blicavs. With the acquisition of Ceglar, hopefully those two can settle down up forward and down back respectively. Geelong’s possession brand of footy saw them easily come in at No.1 in differentials both for disposals and marks, but that game plan yet again got found out badly in the heat of finals, especially by Melbourne’s chaotic surge brand, so they will have to consider at least tinkering with that this season.

ONE TO WATCH
Mature-age recruit Bradley Close has made a really good start to his AFL career, and continued to improve as the season wore on in his role as a pressure forward. His ability to play that high half-forward role effectively saw him become a fixture in the Geelong senior team. At 23 years of age, he looks primed to take the next step and become a 30-goal player in 2022.

UNDER THE PUMP
Luke Dahlhaus’ spot in the team is no longer guaranteed. Despite playing 21 games last year, he had an underwhelming season by his own standards, and was ultimately dropped for the last two finals. He failed to have a meaningful impact last year, kicking only seven goals. He was left out of the best 23 below, and his former Bulldogs teammate Shaun Higgins is in a similar boat. It was hard to find a place for the latter even in the 26 after a fairly average first year at the Cattery.

BEST 23
B: Jake Kolodjashnij, Jack Henry, Jed Bews
HB: Tom Stewart, Mark Blicavs, Zach Tuohy
C: Mitch Duncan, Joel Selwood, Sam Menegola
HF: Gryan Miers, Esava Ratugolea, Bradley Close
F: Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins, Gary Rohan
R: Rhys Stanley, Patrick Dangerfield, Cameron Guthrie
Inter: Jonathon Ceglar, Brandan Parfitt, Isaac Smith, Mark O’Connor, Max Holmes
Emerg: Tom Atkins, Quinton Narkle, Tyson Stengle

With Ceglar in the team, ‘Mr Fix-It’ Blicavs now has the opportunity to settle down back and not have to attend so many stoppages. Season 2022 looms as a huge one for Ratugolea, who has been named at centre-half forward, and the Cats’ emergencies at this stage of the year – Tom Atkins, Quinton Narkle and Tyson Stengle – are a very strong group and should earn plenty of game time throughout the year. Higgins could well struggle for a spot in 2022, but the fact he, Zach Guthrie and Sam Simpson all miss out on the 26 here merely underlines the Cats’ depth.