Club Focus Geelong 2020 - Smith, Cameron, Higgins, Holmes, Neale, Stevens

AFL Club Focus

What is the Cats' priority this off-season?

  • Recruiting via trade

    Votes: 6 40.0%
  • Managing the salary cap

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Managing the age profile

    Votes: 5 33.3%
  • Recruiting via the draft

    Votes: 4 26.7%

  • Total voters
    15

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Geelong club focus thread
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Data from footywire. To check the draft order (updated weekly) see the thread here.
 
The cats should try and get Preuss out of Melbourne. 25yrs old, solid pure ruckman who has learnt from Goldstein and now Gawn. I reckon he would be great for you guys.

I'm not sure how much I rate him but we do need a ruckman.
 

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Dec 20, 2014
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Do Geelong fans have any concerns about the addition of more veterans? Smith will be 32 by next season. Higgins will turn 33 in March.

Jeremy Cameron is a longer-term acquisition obviously but are there any worries about skewing too old?
 
Jan 19, 2008
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Do Geelong fans have any concerns about the addition of more veterans? Smith will be 32 by next season. Higgins will turn 33 in March.

Jeremy Cameron is a longer-term acquisition obviously but are there any worries about skewing too old?

Not really, they are high quality AFL standard players that we are getting essentially for free. With the advances in sports medicine players are playing longer and better into their thirties.

As has been pointed out many times on this board, our bottom six is not great and this improves it. And for the young players it means they really have to work hard to make our best 22.

We have already delisted four players, three of them you probably have never heard of and one retirement. A second retirement likely and a few more to be delisted.

Best case is we keep our three firsts and bring in young talent, plus bringing in AFL standard players who improve the senior team. That would be an outstanding result.
 

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Andyy

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Should be going the draft with all their picks.

Current cats team is too slow and gasses out too early to win a GF so I suspect everything they're doing is I'm vain (bringing in more fossils).
 

Prochard123

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I mean don't get me wrong Smith, Higgins and definitely Cameron are really strong players.

But as someone who personally rates Menegola as one of league's best wingman, and with you guys having Duncan on the opposing wing, how much value do Higgins and Smith really add? Smith could arguably play half forward, but that's not really his natural position, and even his best position nowadays is barely above average. Higgins has played a lot of wing, and a little bit on the flank this year, but once again his natural position is inside mid, which I thought was why he was unsettled, but guess that is wrong.

The only player from that list I see having a genuine impact and upgrades your list is Cameron, the other 2 I still feel are quite redundant, makes your team softer and are simply big name recruits.

Also, next year your biggest obstacle is still Richmond. And your list is already much stronger than theirs, but their game plan just seems to overcome talent differential year after year after year. How much actual impact on performance would bringing in marginal upgrades at best make instead of adjusting your playstyle?
 
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Jan 19, 2008
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I mean don't get me wrong Smith, Higgins and definitely Cameron are really strong players.

But as someone who personally rates Menegola as one of league's best wingman, and with you guys having Duncan on the opposing wing, how much value do Higgins and Smith really make? Smith could arguably play half forward, but that's not really his natural position, and even his best position nowadays is barely above average. Higgins has played a lot of wing, and a little bit on the flank this year, but once again his natural position is inside mid, which I thought was why he was unsettled, but guess that is wrong.

The only player from that list I see having a genuine impact and upgrades your list is Cameron, the other 2 I still feel are quite redundant, makes your team softer and are simply big name recruits.

Also, next year your biggest obstacle is still Richmond. And your list is already much stronger than theirs, but their game plan just seems to overcome talent differential year after year after year. How much actual impact on performance would bringing in marginal upgrades at best make instead of adjusting your playstyle?

Can we not recruit players and adjust our playstyle as well?

Higgins and Smith are AFL standard players so it improves our bottom six, which as BF points out every year, is not that strong.
 

Prochard123

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Can we not recruit players and adjust our playstyle as well?

Higgins and Smith are AFL standard players so it improves our bottom six, which as BF points out every year, is not that strong.
Who are your bottom 6?

I wouldn't think they're in the midfield. The 2 guys mentioned here are natural midfielders. They're capable on a flank/in other roles, but their position is definitely in the midfield.

So Higgins/Smith wouldn't even be competing against your "bottom 6"?
 

DanA

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Do Geelong fans have any concerns about the addition of more veterans? Smith will be 32 by next season. Higgins will turn 33 in March.

Jeremy Cameron is a longer-term acquisition obviously but are there any worries about skewing too old?


I don't see it as a problem. This is us trying to turn a lemon into lemonade. We lost Kelly last year mostly for future draft picks which help us down the track but don't do much for the current premiership window. Jack Steven so far hasn't worked out and instead, that void in the middle was filled by shuffling Guthrie who stepped up his game but we are still down a good player in the 22 man side. I think that trade put us in a position where we had to find stop-gaps to keep us competitive while our draft picks develop.

But for all intent and purposes we've turned Tim Kelly into Jeremy Cameron (the cap space) and three late-ish 1st round picks. I'm not personally unhappy, do you think that's something cats supporters should be concerned about?
 
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Jan 19, 2008
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Who are your bottom 6?

I wouldn't think they're in the midfield. The 2 guys mentioned here are natural midfielders. They're capable on a flank/in other roles, but their position is definitely in the midfield.

So Higgins/Smith wouldn't even be competing against your "bottom 6"?

I am sure we can work out a way to fit in these players. The modern game has very little positional play, aside from the centre bounce.
 
Dec 20, 2014
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But for all intent and purposes we've turned Tim Kelly into Jeremy Cameron (the cap space) and three late-ish 1st round picks. I'm not personally unhappy, do you think that's something cats supporters should be concerned about?
Not Cameron. But how many of your best 22 next year will be 30+?
 

DanA

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Not Cameron. But how many of your best 22 next year will be 30+?

It'll be 11 assuming we sign Higgins, with Steven being a 12th if he gets his act together. It's probably 3-4 more than Westcoast will have, but to me, that's somewhat offset by having three extra 1st round picks in the current draft.
 
Dec 20, 2014
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It'll be 11 assuming we sign Higgins, with Steven being a 12th if he gets his act together. It's probably 3-4 more than Westcoast will have, but to me, that's somewhat offset by having three extra 1st round picks in the current draft.
I'm concerned about WC having that many guys 30+. If we went and added two more, people would be saying WTF?

Will you have three first-rounders?
 
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