Geelong into VFL grand final again; list looks full of young talent

[monstrum]

Geelong into VFL grand final again; list looks full of young talent
Bruce Matthews Herald Sun
September 22, 2012 10:00AM

Jordan Murdoch is among a new batch of young Cats. Picture: Michael Klein
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GEELONG senior coach Chris Scott will get a snapshot of the future at Etihad Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

And history suggests he can draw positives - whatever the outcome of the VFL grand final against Port Melbourne.

The Cats, coached by Matthew Knights, is loaded with young talent for Scott to restock his team for the 2013 AFL season.

Eight of the starting 18 made their AFL debuts this season and 12 contributed at different stages to the senior team's run to the finals.

Jordan Murdoch (8 games), Jonathan Simpkin (3), Josh Walker (7), Jackson Sheringham (5), Jesse Stringer (8), George Horlin-Smith (3) and Jordan Schroder (1) represent the Cats' future, along with mature ruck recruit Orren Stephenson, who also played eight AFL games in his first season.

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It's loaded with similar potential to the 2002 VFL premier that contained Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Paul Chapman, Steve Johnson and James Kelly and the 2007 victors when Tom Lonergan booted six goals to win the best afield Norm Goss medal alongside Tom Hawkins, Travis Varcoe, Trent West and Simon Hogan.

"That's the purpose of our (VFL) team. We've tried to be mindful of, not just this year, but also the future in everything we've done. It's not that easy to do, but we've managed to do it reasonably well," Cats football manager Neil Balme said.

"There have been a lot of parallels drawn between the 2002 team that won the flag. We would like that to be true."

Senior players, who postponed Mad Monday celebrations until next week to lend support to the VFL team, will be at Etihad Stadium to farewell defender David Wojcinski who's joining Matthew Scarlett in retirement after 203 AFL games.

And the Cats are banking on the steady infusion of youth during the season to cover the loss of so much backline experience in the same way after losing captain Cameron Ling, Brad Ottens, Darren Milburn and Cameron Mooney the previous season.

"We've been pleased with the way they've all progressed in the program. It's one of the advantages of having your own VFL team. It's all the one message," Balme said.

VFL GRAND FINAL
Port Melbourne v Geelong
Etihad Stadium, Sunday 2.15pm


2002 VFL Grand Final. Geelong players celebrate their premiership win. Trophy. Geelong v Port Melbourne. Featured in photo: Marc Woolnough, Matthew McCarthy, Peter Street, David Mensch, James Rahilly, Jimmy Bartel, Josh Hunt, Steve Johnson, Danny O'Brien, Tim McGrath, David Johnson, Brent Grgic, Daniel Foster, Adam Chatfield, Mitchell White, Gary Ablett Jr, Will Slade, James Kelly and Paul Chapman. Source: Herald Sun


Geelong's recent VFL premiership teams

2002 - Geelong 15.15 (105) d Port Melbourne 12.11 (83)

B: Josh Hunt, Marc Woolnough, Daniel Foster
HB: Will Slade, Tim McGrath, Mitchell White
C: James Kelly, James Bartel, David Johnson
HF: Brent Grgic, David Mensch, Steve Johnson
F: Gary Ablett, Matthew McCarthy, Charlie Gardiner
Foll: Peter Street, James Rahilly, Paul Chapman
Int: Paul Chambers, Henry Playfair, Danny OBrien, Adam Chatfield
Coach: Ron Watt
Norm Goss Medal: James Rahilly


2007 VFL Grand Final. Coburg v Geelong. The Geelong team. Picture: Michael Dodge Source: Herald Sun


2007 - Geelong 17.24 (126) d Coburg 7.10 (52)

B: Tim Callan, Sam Hunt, Tom Lonergan
HB: David Johnson, Matthew Spencer, Liam Bedford
C: Jason Davenport, James Byrne, Travis Varcoe
HF: Todd Grima, Henry Playfair, Charlie Gardiner
F: Simon Hogan, Tom Hawkins, Ryan Gamble
Foll: Steven King, Brent Prismall, Nathan Djerrkura
Int: Trent West, Matthew Firman, Scott Thompson, Jay Cheep
Coach: Leigh Tudor
Norm Goss Medal: Tom Lonergan
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[roo boys!]

You do realise this is a few weeks old Mons?  :-X  They've already played it, Geelong won.

[monstrum]

Lol yeh i do, i only put it up coz holz was saying hmac would help keep the cats afloat, i just dug this up coz i thought it was a good read ;)

[roo boys!]

All good! Yeah they're a scary prospect the Cats...I'm worried that it might be a long while until they fall again.