GEELONG says it has joined the group of the AFL's 'big clubs'. But it has plans to get bigger and has two NFL giants as its blueprint.
As the Cats have another premiership tilt following last year's Grand Final defeat, president Grant McCabe, who took over the role at the end of 2024, said Geelong belonged with the League's biggest.
"When I was growing up we certainly weren't seen to be among the bigger clubs. But 20 years of success means you do start to get lumped into the conversation around the bigger clubs," he told AFL.com.au in a wide-ranging interview.
"We need to realise that as we move towards 100,000 members, that's a category we're sitting in.
"It can be in terms of membership, win-loss ratio, premierships won, viewership, who are the drawing clubs. I think undoubtedly we're among the bigger clubs in the AFL. I think Hawthorn and Geelong have joined Richmond, Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon in that category.
"We comfortably sit there and it means we want to keep pushing to be a part of marquee fixtures, we want to make sure we've got Thursday and Friday night games where we can be a showcase for the AFL and when it matters that we take our place at the table at the AFL and we've got the right voice."
The Cats have had back-to-back defeats against fellow premiership contenders Fremantle and Brisbane, but remain in the hunt for another top-four spot – having made 15 preliminary or Grand Finals since 2004 in a remarkable stretch of success.
Geelong's region remains a key part of its success – and its continued recruiting drive – but the club is eyeing two NFL teams as it looks to expand its footprint across the country and beyond.
"Twenty-five years ago no one wanted to come here. It was 'sleepy hollow' and wasn't seen to be an attractive place. I think the club's really brought to life the value of living in the region," McCabe said.
"More broadly, it's the fastest growing local government area in the country, so the population in-flow has been huge.
"The thing we need to be careful of is not being too parochial. If we want to have 100, 120, 140,000 members, we need to make sure that we're also looking at and serving Melbourne-based fans and those who are interstate and even overseas.
"Whether it's a model, using American sport, like a Green Bay or Kansas City – they're very much anchored in their community but they're a global brand. I certainly want to be anchored in our community and make the most of the fastest growing region, but also be seen as accessible to fans all over the country."
In a broad interview, McCabe also spoke about their plans for coach Chris Scott, chasing Toby Greene and Zak Butters, Geelong's 'secret sauce', the Cats' in-demand coaches and more.
HOW TO KEEP SCOTT FRESH
THE CATS are open to Chris Scott again have an extended break away from the club over summer after his months of leave following the 2024 Grand Final.
Scott handed the pre-season responsibility to his assistants, as well as head of football Andrew Mackie, last off-season as he took months off. The Cats have continued to keep autonomy at the centre of their approach, with Scott recently jetting to the US for his bye for a golf trip, and they have the two-time premiership coach contracted until the end of 2029.
Tasmania has been linked as interested in Scott for its senior coaching role, but McCabe said the club was confident it could keep him energised.
"We forget that he's been here for 16 years, but he's still young. He's 50 and 'Fages' (Brisbane coach Chris Fagan) was 64 when he coached a winning Grand Final team last year," he said.
"I think Chris is at the top of his game. We signed him and extended him on that basis. But as with anybody in a really high-pressure role, you need to be thinking very carefully about how you keep them fresh and energised.
"He had a break at the beginning of this year and we're very willing to make sure we provide that opportunity for him again. We need to make sure we empower him to be able to mentally refresh.
"He's a super interesting guy. He's very, very intelligent, he's incredibly curious. He has a mini study sabbatical at the end of every season which gets him refreshed as well, so we are willing to keep flexing and thinking about how we keep him fresh while he's still at the top of his game and he'll probably continue to get better."
McCabe said discussions would happen later this year with CEO Steve Hocking and Mackie around how long Scott is away for the club over the next pre-season.
"I haven't had any confirmation on what he'll do at the end of the year. I expect there'll be some sort of a break if he gets the opportunity. Whether it's as long as last year remains to be seen, but it'll be what's right for him at the time and what's right for the playing group and club," McCabe said.
DANGERFIELD, CAMERON, SMITH…. BUTTERS AND GREENE?
GEELONG is the hot favourites for Greater Western Sydney skipper Toby Greene and is right in the race for Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters.
The perennial pursuit of the game's best players remains high on the agenda for this off-season, and the Cats are aiming to land the star pair.
While Greene is an unrestricted free agent, Butters would come at a steep trade cost as well as the biggest ever contract for a Cats player, stretching their famously even payments model. While that has underpinned their success, McCabe said the Cats were willing to change to meet the Butters market, having been the landing spot for some of the game's biggest acquisitions in Patrick Dangerfield, Jeremy Cameron and Bailey Smith.
"With the increase in TPP and some of the movements we've seen over the last sort of 12 months, it does challenge the model. I think decisions for us on any player that might be a free agent we need to think pretty deeply about what does it mean for the model and are we going to stretch what we've done before?" he said.
"One of the things that's been the secret sauce of Geelong and the success over 20 years is that willingness to adapt. It looks like a lot stays the same. We've had two CEOs in 25 years. We've had two coaches in about the same period. 'Wellsy' (recruiting manager Stephen Wells) has been here for 42 years. But around those leaders, there's been a tremendous amount of adaptability and change in how we think about the club.
"For me facing into that change on how we think about TPP fits into that same category, and we'll continue to adapt. If there's a case for us to stretch that model no doubt there'll be some pretty healthy conversation when the time comes."
Would McCabe like to see Greene in a Cats jumper next year?
"He's been a great player, hasn't he? I think 'Jezza' (Cameron) would probably like to see him in a Cats jumper next year. We always want to try and improve our list," he said.
McCabe was more committal on wanting to see skipper Dangerfield play on next year, which would put him within reach of the magic 400-game milestone.
"I love Pat. Anyone who's a Geelong fan loves Pat, and he's someone I love to sit down with and chat to about football and life. He's brought a different flavour to the playing group compared to Joel (Selwood). Joel's one of the absolute greats of all time but Pat's been willing to bring a bit of a different flavour as well," he said.
"I would love to see him from a sentimental point of view continue and certainly 400 games would be an amazing achievement. So fingers crossed it plays out that way."
'THERE'S A WORLD ALL THREE GET GIGS'
THE BYPRODUCT of long-term success makes Geelong a place staff want to go. But it also makes the club a poaching target.
That risk of a 'brain drain' is again on the cards this year, with all three of Geelong's assistant coaches – Nathan Buckley, James Kelly and James Rahilly – in the mix to land senior roles.
Buckley has already interviewed with Tasmania officially and wants that role after stepping back into coaching under Scott this year, while Kelly and Rahilly are among the assistants Carlton will speak to. Kelly, too, is expected to be in Essendon's process.
McCabe said the club would be open to any of its assistants to coach on with the team if they landed a role elsewhere during the finals, like Steven King did last year when he was appointed Melbourne coach.
"To see Steven King have the success he's had hasn't surprised any of us and I honestly couldn't be more delighted for him. He's a super person and he's going to be an incredibly successful senior coach. Maybe one of these days he'll be a bit of a boomerang and find his way back down here. You never know," McCabe said.
"I did chat with 'Hock' last week and say there's a world in which all three get gigs and all of our assistants leave. From a president's perspective, I hope we don't lose everybody at once.
"But we also probably need to be planning on at least one of them getting a role outside of the club that gives them a senior coaching opportunity and they'll be very much supported."
THE FIXTURE FIX
GEELONG is in favour of the AFL taking bold moves with its fixture.
The League outlined four different options to club bosses last month and the Cats are keen for it to explore those that may not be as traditionally minded.
"'Hock' and I tend to push ourselves to be a little bit more on the innovative side and would probably be an advocate for the 18 games where everyone plays each other once and then thinking creatively around how we might manage the other four or six games," McCabe said.
"There's lots of different options that could play out there, but I get the sense that it might be a little more incremental."
McCabe is "extremely supportive" of Tasmania's entrance into the AFL and said the League's recent decision to put term limits on commissioners was the right move.
He has a close relationship with AFL Commission chairman Craig Drummond, having served on Geelong's board with him for five years before following him into the presidency at the Cats.
Asked how he approached taking over the reins of the Cats' juggernaut, McCabe said: "One simple way of looking at it would be 'Don't screw it up, Grant'. We want to continue having an environment where people want to be."
BASEBALL'S INSPIRATION
YEARS living near Fenway Park in Boston has brought to life one of McCabe's clear passions in his role at the Cats: fan engagement at games.
The past two years Geelong has completed its US-inspired 'Whiteout' match, seeing the club distribute white flags at every seat, the team wear a white jumper and fans be encouraged to get into the spirit with a pre-game whiteout wave. But McCabe thinks the Cats – and the AFL – can do more.
"I lived in the US for a couple of years and got to go to a lot of baseball in particular. I love the way they think about and look at fan experience. It begins long before the game starts and finishes long after the game is finished," he said.
"We've got the habit of turning up right before the siren and then disappearing straight afterwards. So I'd love to extend that, lengthen it, but also make it an amazing experience when you're here. The more we can do that, the better. I was blown away by 'Whiteout' and the energy it brought to the stadium.
"We'll do it again next year and make it bigger and better and we've had a lot of feedback from other clubs so if it's a catalyst for us to do more and other clubs to do more, all the better."
Another target is involving more AI in taking the game into the future and for fans. The League detailed its AI strategy to clubs recently.
"We've got our toe in the water, but if you look at international sports, they're really grasping Al and there's a whole bunch of reasons for doing it," he said.
"In the NBA they've got a basketball intelligence platform, which is for broadcast stats and for fan experience. The NFL are using it for fan engagement, but they're looking at biometrics for reduced injury risk. FIFA for the World Cup are using technology around officiating and they've got match analysis and fan engagement.
"There's so much cool stuff out there that's going to take the game forward so we need to keep nudging that along."