Tara Murray
Geelong has had a busy first trade week for a number of different reasons.
While the Cats have lost key position player Nathan Kreuger to Collingwood, the club has locked in a number of key parts on and off the field.
Kreuger, who made his debut this season playing two games, was traded to the Magpies along with pick 55 in exchange for pick 41.
Collingwood football manager Graham Wright had previously told Trade Radio that the Magpies saw Kreuger, who had played as a defender, as a forward and would look to play him at that end of the ground.
Geelong list and recruiting manager Stephen Wells said the club wished Kreuger well.
“Nathan has made a fantastic contribution to our club, and we’ve enjoyed having him as part of our program.”
As of lunchtime on Thursday, no deal had been done to trade the contracted Jordan Clark to Fremantle.
While Kreuger has left the Cattery, five players have re-signed for next season.
Rhys Stanley, Gary Rohan, Brad Close, Zach Guthrie and Francis Evans have all agreed to terms to pull on the hoops again next season.
Stanley has led the Cats ruck division in recent years, playing 105 games, including 13 finals, since crossing from St Kilda.
Rohan has been a key player in the Geelong forward line since crossing from Sydney in 2019. He kicked 32 goals this season, as the Cats made another preliminary final.
Close is one of the Cats’ rising stars and cemented his spot in the team this year. In his second season, he played 22 games and 15 goals.
Guthrie has played 33 games and kicked two goals since debuting in 2017. The defender, who has been in and out of the side, has played 13 games in 2021, including two finals.
Evans broke through for his debut early in the 2021 season, before suffering injury in his second game.
The young forward returned to the field late in the season at VFL level.
Off-field, the club has added recently retired forward Eddie Betts to the coaching ranks.
The mercurial forward hung up the boots at the end of the season after 350 games with Carlton and Adelaide and will be a part-time development coach.
Geelong general manager of football Simon Lloyd said that Betts had seen the game from every angle after originally arriving at Carlton via the rookie list.
“His knowledge, wisdom, leadership and experience will be a great asset for our team. Eddie is a great communicator and he is excited to work with our players, Chris and our coaching staff, and everyone involved with the club. We are equally excited that he has chosen to join our club.”
Betts said he was looking forward to starting his post-playing career with the Cats.
“Geelong is a successful club with a magnificent culture that has always been consistently strong, and I cannot wait to get involved,” he said.
“I’m excited to support the club and I’m looking forward to being able to grow myself as well. Geelong is known for developing people and that is also an exciting element of joining the club. “It’s important for players to develop skills in all parts of your life.
” Obviously I will spend some time with the forwards, particularly the small forwards, but hope to get across all on-field spaces where the club see they need me.”
Betts will begin the part-time role in January.
