Your 2023 Geelong Cats season preview is here, just in time for the start of the new AFL season! Everything you need to know about the Cats is here, all in the one article – aren't you lucky. We’ve got information about squad changes, rankings and stats from last year, key matches to look for, as well as none other than ex-AFL star Heath Shaw’s opinion on how the Cats will go this season.
Let’s get cracking shall we!
Recruitment Report
Let’s take a little look at the new signings for the Cats, along with all the players they’ve parted ways with:
Ins: Jack Bowes, Tanner Bruhn, Jhye Clark, Ted Clohesy, Phoenix Foster, Ollie Henry, Oisin Mullin, Oscar Murdoch and Osca Riccardi
Outs: Luke Dahlhaus, Francis Evans, Shaun Higgins, Quinton Narkle, Joel Selwood, Cooper Stephens, Nick Stevens, Paul Tsapataolis and Zane Williams
2022 Rankings
Where did the Cats rank for disposals in the AFL last season? Or what about clangers? All the key rankings for the Cats are below:
Kicks: 3rd
Handballs: 2nd
Disposals: 1st
Marks: 1st
Hit-outs: 5th
Frees For: 4th
Frees Against: 4th
Goals: 1st
Behinds: 1st
2022 Stats
Who had the most goals for the Cats? Who had the most marks? All these stats and more can be found below:
Most Disposals: Cameron Guthrie - 613
Most Tackles: Tom Atkins - 157
Most Clearances: Cameron Guthrie and Joel Selwood - 107
Most Marks: Mitchell Duncan - 184
Most Goals: Tom Hawkins - 67
3 Key Matches To Watch
These are the key matches you can’t miss if you’re a Cats fan (up to Round 15):
Match 1: Round 1, vs Magpies, at MCG (Fri, Mar 17, 7:40pm)
Match 2: Round 4, vs Hawks, at MCG (Mon, Apr 10, 3:20pm)
Match 3: Round 6, vs Swans, at GMHBA Stadium (Sat, Apr 22, 7:25pm)
2023 AFL Season Expectations
The nursing home down the highway gets a 5-star rating and Dads army, although a year older now, still sit top of the tree for me. What does that mean? Not a lot. This club just keeps on keeping on and somehow have introduced some elite youth (Henry, Bruhn and Bowes) onto an already choc a bloc list of depth.
Hawkins to miss Round 1-2 is a loss but it's a marathon not a sprint, they always plan for the future this club. In amongst all the youth, coming a fit Menagola will play a big part in the back-to-back assault. Jeremy Cameron (my favourite player) to be stand-alone best player in the competition by season’s end.
Predicted Finish: Premiers
