By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
TEAM cohesion and executing the game plan will be keys to the Cats’ premiership hopes next season, coach Chris Scott has declared.
He warned that Geelong’s recruiting coups of the AFL trade period – snaring Patrick Dangerfield from Adelaide, Scott Selwood from West Coast, Lachie Henderson from Carlton and Zac Smith from Gold Coast – would not automatically put the Cats in contention.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do on the way we play,” Scott said.
“With new players coming in there are some challenges around cohesion and game style and we need to get working really quickly.
“We’ve got some young players coming through that we’re confident in but they’re by no means bona fide A-grade AFL players yet, so we’re optimistic that we’ve given ourselves a platform we can work from.
“But we’re going to have to work really hard, really diligently, to turn that platform into something bigger.”
Scott said the ambitious recruitment plan was the culmination of “years of planning” paying tribute to recruitment manager Stephen Wells.
“We’re really happy. The plan was a long time in the making.
“Most clubs these days are thinking a couple of years ahead, at least, and in the early stages it seemed like a pretty ambitious plan to get all four guys over the line but now it’s done, we’re optimistic we’ve given ourselves a chance to be really competitive.
“We also acknowledge that it’s only a chance. It doesn’t really solve anything in the short-term.”
The potential for finals is firmly on the agenda of Geelong recruit Lachie Henderson, who was keen to disprove his doubters when he arrived at Simonds Stadium this week.
“I look back on it now and I’ve learned a lot of lessons this year,” Henderson said while pulling on a Geelong jumper for the first time.
“It was a tough year for myself and the club (Carlton) and I probably didn’t really play how I should have this year, so I’ve learnt some lessons and there definitely is a point to prove but I’m really looking forward to the future and what it holds.
“I think the playing group down here’s got some really good things to give in the near future.”
Henderson grew up in Birregurra, not too far from the Moggs Creek home of Dangerfield, who he played with in the Geelong Falcons.
“We had a good year together down at the Falcons and we’ve stayed in touch ever since,” Henderson said.
“We’re pretty good mates and our families are pretty close, too, so it’s good to play with him.”
