Does Geelong's 'lifestyle' factor give them an unfair advantage for free agency signings?

[Shooter#17]

No the best lifestyle in Australia is the Gold Coast and I don't see players lining up to go there.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Does west coasts go home factor give them an unfair advantage?

Which big name player has requested a trade to WC? Tim Kelly, that's it in the clubs history, now compare that to Geelong - Dangerfield, Ablett, Jeremy Cameron etc.

 

[STPer18]

Its that damn #moggsbias

It's real, don't downplay it.

 

[kickazz]

Which big name player has requested a trade to WC? Tim Kelly, that's it in the clubs history, now compare that to Geelong - Dangerfield, Ablett, Jeremy Cameron etc.

Kennedy doesn't count?

 

[PhatBoy]

Which big name player has requested a trade to WC? Tim Kelly, that's it in the clubs history, now compare that to Geelong - Dangerfield, Ablett, Jeremy Cameron etc.

Yeah free agency and the attraction of the Geelong lifestyle…..

If you’re trying to highlight how many great players it brings, maybe don’t cite the best player of the millennium who actually LEFT Geelong at the height of his powers for an even better location and in all likelihood probably cost us at least one flag and only came back 7 years later

 

[Bostonian]

The players who might be attracted to Geelong are those who come from a country town background and don't like the sheer size of Melbourne or Sydney.

Dangerfield and Cameron fit that mould.

 

[Ricketz]

The players who might be attracted to Geelong are those who come from a country town background and don't like the sheer size of Melbourne or Sydney.

Dangerfield and Cameron fit that mould.

Isaac Smith

 

[Elmer_Judd]

I call it the 'Moggs Creek' factor. Players love to move to Geelong to 'get away from it all.' The big smoke isn't for everyone, which is why Geelong exists. Does this give them an unfair advantage when signing free agencies? It seems like the team is a hotspot for mature players that want that Dangerfield lifestyle for their families.

I think this has definitely helped Geelong stay competitive for so long. They've been able to top up with high-quality, mature FAs on the regular.

Get over it.

They have a strong playing culture and close knit group.

Steggles (Stengle) chose them cause they knew their coaches and playing group would expect nothing but the most professional standards.

Their so called lifestyle has nothing to do it, just another needless anti Geelong rant.

Just surprised a non Richmond fan started it tbh

 

[demondavey]

Geelong as a place to live isn’t that great. You can still ‘get away from it all’ in parts of Melbourne. It’s just about what you choose to do. Professional footballers wouldn’t need to bust themselves in the 9-5 commute I wouldn’t have thought.

There would be certain parts of Geelong I’d live, but not everywhere would be attractive.

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

It does. But what can you do about it? Cant relocate the city.

 

[demondavey]

So Geelong have an unfair advantage because they are in Geelong.

Haha! Exactly.

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

Geelong as a place to live isn’t that great. You can still ‘get away from it all’ in parts of Melbourne. It’s just about what you choose to do. Professional footballers wouldn’t need to bust themselves in the 9-5 commute I wouldn’t have thought.

There would be certain parts of Geelong I’d live, but not everywhere would be attractive.

Not many AFL footballers (let alone those signed on plump FA contracts) would have this problem though.

Geelong is a hole, but the surroundings are wonderful

 

[NewMelbournian]

Some people like living in a major city and some don't. They'll get some players this way and they'll miss out on some for the same reason.

 

[Evolved1]

You obviously don't live in Geelong.

It's not the nice and cruisy place it once was.

Place is getting swamped by Melbourne mutts and the infrastructure can't handle it.

Can't wait to retire to get out of the place.

I presume few of the players live in Geelong. There's some nice coastal towns a stones throw away that would be far more alluring than living in Melbourne.

Geelong are a good team because of their culture, not where they're based.

 

[Bostonian]

Added Geelong also have the advantage of having one of the best junior programs in their backyard via the Falcons.

Any Falcons want to come it's advantageous to Geelong.

 

[Bostonian]

I presume few of the players live in Geelong. There's some nice coastal towns a stones throw away that would be far more alluring than living in Melbourne.

Quite a few still live in the Newtown/Highton/Geelong West areas because they are so close to the ground for training.

Go down to the river end of Pakington Street and you'll see a few about and often the cafes there.

 

[Back One Out]

This stack of free agents we’ve signed that have helped us stay competitive? It’s two players high and one of them has only been there for one completed season.

Disingenuous.

Dangerfield wasn't a free agent signing, but he was a free agent who leveraged that into a forced trade.
Similar for other players like Jeremy Cameron who had 1 year to run on their contracts and were traded before they walked away for nothing as free agents

The point made by the OP isn't strictly limited to "free agents". He is talking about Geelong's acquisition of senior players from other clubs.


2012
Josh Caddy
Hamish McIntosh
Jared Rivers

2014
Mitch Clark
Rhys Stanley

2015
Patrick Dangerfield
Lachie Henderson

2016
Zak Tuohy

2017
Gary Ablett
Stewart Crameri

2018
Gary Rohan
Luke Dahlhaus

2019
Josh Jenkins
Jack Steven

2020
Jeremy Cameron
Shaun Higgins
Isaac Smith

2021
Jonathon Ceglar
Tyson Stengle


There is no doubt in the world that Geelong is advantaged by being Victoria's regional AFL club, an hour away from the big smoke and close to the surf coast. Especially when you consider that most AFL players were born and raised in the country (many of those from the Western districts!)

People with young families often prefer to live out of the big city if they have a choice and don't need to be here every day for their work.
However, this doesn't mean it's an unfair advantage for Geelong. Good luck to the Cats. They should milk every advantage they can

 

[BringFevBack2021]

I presume few of the players live in Geelong. There's some nice coastal towns a stones throw away that would be far more alluring than living in Melbourne.

Geelong are a good team because of their culture, not where they're based.

There's a few Carlton players that live in/around Torquay too. Not a limiting factor for them to commute, Treloar for instance lives in a small suburb deep in the Eastern suburbs near Bentleigh. Not exactly around the corner from Footscray.

I do think the Surf Coast offers a good lifestyle but not Geelong itself, not sure it's going to have you dying to switch clubs to be close to it though.

 

[STPer18]

Disingenuous.

Dangerfield wasn't a free agent signing, but he was a free agent who leveraged that into a forced trade.
Similar for other players like Jeremy Cameron who had 1 year to run on their contracts and were traded before they walked away for nothing as free agents

The point made by the OP isn't strictly limited to "free agents". He is talking about Geelong's acquisition of senior players from other clubs.

There is no doubt in the world that Geelong is advantaged by being Victoria's regional AFL club, an hour away from the big smoke and close to the surf coast. Especially when you consider that most AFL players were born and raised in the country (and many of those from the Western districts!)

However, this doesn't mean it's an "unfair advantage". STPer18, Sttew and you are not compelled to respond about everything Geelong-related and constantly defend your club's honour.


2012
Josh Caddy
Hamish McIntosh
Jared Rivers

2014
Mitch Clark
Rhys Stanley

2015
Patrick Dangerfield
Lachie Henderson

2016
Zak Tuohy

2017
Gary Ablett
Stewart Crameri

2018
Gary Rohan
Luke Dahlhaus

2019
Josh Jenkins
Jack Steven

2020
Jeremy Cameron
Shaun Higgins
Isaac Smith

2021
Jonathon Ceglar
Tyson Stengle

Tagging me and telling me where to post like a little wannabe forum moderator? Pathetic and a tad rich coming from a bloke who's like a fly to s**t whenever the phrase 'Geelong' is mentioned.

 

[PhatBoy]

Disingenuous.

Dangerfield wasn't a free agent signing, but he was a free agent who leveraged that into a forced trade.
Similar for other players like Jeremy Cameron who had 1 year to run on their contracts and were traded before they walked away for nothing as free agents

The point made by the OP isn't strictly limited to "free agents". He is talking about Geelong's acquisition of senior players from other clubs.

There is no doubt in the world that Geelong is advantaged by being Victoria's regional AFL club, an hour away from the big smoke and close to the surf coast. Especially when you consider that most AFL players were born and raised in the country (and many of those from the Western districts!)

However, this doesn't mean it's an "unfair advantage". STPer18, Sttew and you are not compelled to respond about everything Geelong-related and constantly defend your club's honour.


2012
Josh Caddy
Hamish McIntosh
Jared Rivers

2014
Mitch Clark
Rhys Stanley

2015
Patrick Dangerfield
Lachie Henderson

2016
Zak Tuohy

2017
Gary Ablett
Stewart Crameri

2018
Gary Rohan
Luke Dahlhaus

2019
Josh Jenkins
Jack Steven

2020
Jeremy Cameron
Shaun Higgins
Isaac Smith

2021
Jonathon Ceglar
Tyson Stengle

It’s got nothing to do with defending my club’s honour - if it was, I wouldn’t bother jumping in the Sydney academy thread and questioning the criticism of the swans

I wasn’t being disingenuous I was counting Dangerfield AS one of our free agent signings even though he technically wasn’t.

As I said there have been two major signings that you could say have had a significant impact on our onfield output. 100 per cent we’ve gotten good performances from players like Henderson and Tuohy and Ablett but you’d find it hard to mount an argument that they are why we’ve stayed around the mark. Contributed, sure, but little more.

Every other club has the same access to the trade and free agency and pre-season draft etc.

 

[HairyO]

I think its the $1 pubs the coterie mob sell them which make the most difference.

 

[Back One Out]

Tagging me and telling me where to post like a little wannabe forum moderator? Pathetic and a tad rich coming from a bloke who's like a fly to s**t whenever the phrase 'Geelong' is mentioned.

Oh, will you relax instead of being a pissy little bitch all your life.

Why are you always so angry and uptight? Are you keyed up about the finals? The flag is in the bag, mate.

It's okay for everyone to have a discussion about WHY Geelong are such a constant force in the modern day AFL and how Chris Scott isn't shy about stocking his list with older players. It's actually an interesting topic. Not every discussion needs to turn into a bitch and moan fest. You guys have a part to play in that as well. It's not just opposition fans who whine about Geelong. It takes two to tango, you know....

 

[STPer18]

Oh, will you relax instead of being a pissy little bitch all your life.

Why are you always so angry and uptight? Are you keyed up about the finals? The flag is in the bag. The Dees can barely knock over an injury-depleted Carlton and the Tigers will be relying on Dusty miracles. Your main rivals are the young Swans (who'll probably s**t themselves in the big finals) and the Brisbane chokers who couldn't even win finals when they were all played at the Gabba in 2020.


It's okay for everyone to have a discussion about WHY Geelong are such a constant force in the modern day AFL and how Chris Scott isn't shy about stocking his list with oldies. It's actually an interesting topic. Not every discussion needs to turn into a bitch and moan fest. You guys have a part to play in that as well. It's not just opposition fans, it takes two to tango, etc...

Nice melt. Literally every single post I've made here has been firmly tongue in cheek. You don't like it, put me on ignore or mash that report button like you've made a great habit of doing.

Also you will never be a moderator.

 

[Falcon3518]

Lifestyle? What lifestyle, it’s just farms. Not personally appealing to me.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[PhatBoy]

Oh, will you relax instead of being a pissy little bitch all your life.

Why are you always so angry and uptight? Are you keyed up about the finals? The flag is in the bag. The Dees can barely knock over an injury-depleted Carlton and the Tigers will be relying on Dusty miracles. Your main rivals are the young Swans (who'll probably s**t themselves in the big finals) and the Brisbane chokers who couldn't even win finals when they were all played at the Gabba in 2020.


It's okay for everyone to have a discussion about WHY Geelong are such a constant force in the modern day AFL and how Chris Scott isn't shy about stocking his list with older players. It's actually an interesting topic. Not every discussion needs to turn into a bitch and moan fest. You guys have a part to play in that as well. It's not just opposition fans who whine about Geelong. It takes two to tango, you know....

With respect, all those threads come across as a pointed attempt to try and find a discrediting reason as to why we haven’t bottomed out.

Invariably the majority of opposition posts on the issue look for a non football reason.
Everything from ground shape to salary cap to the draw to umpire conspiracies, rule changes, whatever.

In a game where the biggest influences is simply the players that contest it, and to a lesser extent the coaches that oversee them, I and others find it staggering that a large percentage of footy fans don’t just come to the conclusion ‘these guys have a great culture, a good recruiting team, good staff and a generally very good group of players that without dominating have at least given their club a chance to compete each year.’ There doesn’t HAVE to be a caveat that comes with that. Every team that has any level of success be that simply making the top 8, making top 4, making grand finals or winning a comp, there are things that work for them and against them and invariably there will be luck that impacts that. Injuries, injuries to the opposition - even now there’s a possibility albeit only a small one, that whoever draws us in week one of the finals has a stroke of luck if Cameron doesn’t play. That’s just part of footy.

At the end of it all, it is just 18 blokes against another 18 blokes and whoever performs best will decide the outcome. The other stuff has a minimal impact at best.

A graphic I saw on Twitter the other day showed the amount of teams who’ve won 10+ games in a row this millenium. The cats have done it 6 times.

The next best? 1. The surf coast lifestyle, salary caps, home grounds and ground dimensions, free agency, father sons - they can only impact that so much.