By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
PERHAPS the most shattering result of the weekend was not the AFL preliminary final loss to Hawthorn but the VFL grand final loss to, yes, Hawthorn.
Technically it was the Box Hill Hawks but, in reality, Hawthorn extracted a double revenge for the litany of losses it has suffered at the hands of the Cats during the past six seasons.
Experienced finals campaigners that they are, Geelong players and coaches were buying time to let the emotions settle before looking too far ahead.
While rumours and conjecture swirl about the future of players like Joel Corey, Josh Hunt, James Podsiadly and Paul Chapman, the signals all point to further youthful injections.
Coach Chris Scott, while “devastated”, emphasised how proud he was of the team and its mix of young and old.
“I don’t believe in making emotional decisions this close to the game,” he said.
“When you look at our season I’m so proud of the way our older players have helped our younger ones through.
“We transitioned a lot of players into our senior team and I think we saw tonight there’s a lot to be optimistic about.
“They have been stellar this season, so we have a lot to look forward to. Maybe in a couple of months we’ll look at it in a more calculating manner.”
Off-season will reveal a number of bright spots for the 2014 Cats, with Dawson Simpson and Hamish McIntosh to bolster the ruck division and rest will help Tom Hawkins’ back.
Everyone will hold their breath hoping Daniel Menzel will be able to come back from another knee injury, along with continued development from Billy Smedts, Jordan Schroder, George Horlin-Smith, Josh Walker and Shane Kersten.
The first year of ruckman Mark Blicavs was also a highlight, with the former steeplechaser making a remarkable conversion to senior football.
Scott pointed to the changes made over the past couple of seasons as an indicator of future directions.
“We’re a very different team from the one even a couple of years ago and that’s exciting in so many different ways,” he said.
As to aims for season 2014?
“You’ve got to give yourself a chance,” Scott said.
“We aspire to finish as high as we can every season, I suspect that would be the case next year.
“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. I’d be surprised if we said. ’Let’s finish out of the eight for a couple of years and rebuild’.
“The plan is to finish as high as we can and give ourselves another shot.”
From a player perspective, stalwart defender Jimmy Bartel said the loss would provide valuable lessons for the younger brigade.
“Our young players were really a part of that and sometimes a tough loss is a really good lesson and for us older guys it felt like 2005 all over again,” Bartel said.
“But if we can learn from our mistakes I’m sure we’ll come back, as they say, bigger and stronger next year, so look out for the Cats.
“I’m so proud with everything they’ve done and how hard they’ve worked all year and the best thing about it they were brave when the game was tense.”
