There is an easy, and genuine camaraderie between Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Stewart when they sit down with Cats Media to do their first official interview as the two men tasked with leading the Geelong Football Club into its next era.
It’s the morning after the club’s ‘win’ over Hawthorn in a match simulation at GMHBA Stadium and both players are showing no signs of the first competitive hit out of the year, despite it happening under an especially warm February sun.
As the crowd shuffled through the gates ahead of the 4pm Thursday start the day before, deep below the grandstand, the players had gathered into the auditorium where coach Chris Scott stood before the group and announced that Dangerfield and Stewart would be the club’s captain and vice-captain respectively for the 2023 season.
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It had been over ten years since Geelong had to give much thought to its on-field leadership structure, but with the departure of Joel Selwood at the end of the 2022 season, a new day had dawned.
On the field, the two players are very similar. Not necessarily in their style of play, but in how they play the game. Both are relentlessly competitive, and both carry with them a hard, steely gaze as the first bounce gets closer. Away from the ground, they’re different, Dangerfield can be a joker, and though he’s become more ‘balanced’, Dangerfield’s words, Stewart the competitor is never far away.
According to Dangerfield, they talk football all the time, both at the club and at home over text or a call. But both players are clear that despite their titles, the leadership of the Geelong Football Club doesn’t sit solely on their shoulders
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“We're really fortunate to have an experienced group, so whilst it sits in the decals, it extends way beyond just the two of us, so we're fortunate to have a group of 10-15 who have had a really long AFL experience, and we'll draw on that.”
“It's a massive strength of ours that any given moment, or any given part of the week, or game day, we can touch on those knowledge points and really get the essence of the group and what it's feeling, and we’ll utlise everyone to our advantage.”
The laughs come easily between the two as they move from station to station, getting their official photos taken, to recording radio scripts and membership messages before settling in for their interview, but mood becomes heavier when the talk turns to the privilege of their positions.
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“It's a pretty proud moment and to do it with Tom, we've known each other for a long time, it'll be special.”
Fittingly, the chat takes place in the Captain’s Room on Level 3 of GMHBA Stadium. A place where the walls are adorned with black and white photos of past Geelong greats, like friendly ghosts, and where the expanse of the Cats’ hallowed home turf rolls out beneath them. It’s where the next chapter of the Geelong Football Club will be written, a story that both players will have a major hand in writing.
One thing that is clear as the morning goes on is how much the new captain appreciates having Stewart by his side; there’s no player he’d rather run out alongside.
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“No, or to train against, ” he said. “Or to keep the group accountable to just being the best you can possibly be every session and I think that's a wonderful trait to have.
“But he's laser-sharp in his intensity to get the best out of himself and I think that's such an important thing to have as a leader, that you're performing on the field, and he's the best defender in the comp and we're lucky to have him.”
Both players reminded everyone what their best looked like this week against the Hawks. Dangerfield shifting through the gears as only he can – the breakaway speed is still breathtaking in person – and Stewart picking apart the opposition defence seemingly at will, but with real stuff only just around the corner, Stewart, eyes focused, said the group will have no trouble maintaining the rage.
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“We've been through so many different experiences as a group, been so close, and having tasted the ultimate success, it does become addictive, ” he said.
“We're very, very keen to do it again but we understand how difficult it is so I think we've got that right balance of knowing exactly what we want and how to get it but also having that thirst and that drive to continue to grow and develop.
“It’s going to take a hell of a lot of work but we're really excited for what's ahead. Collingwood, Round 1, Friday night at the 'G. It's why you play footy, it's exactly what we're built for, it's where you want to be and we can't wait.”
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After 10 seasons, the Selwood era may have finally come to a close, but in Dangerfield, Stewart and an extraordinary large group of leaders alongside them, it would appear that the club remains in very, very sure hands.
Up Next Sav's Super Summer Ratugolea played a full game as a deep defender against Hawthorn on Thursday, giving Cats fans a glimpse into what the former key forward might be capable of Read nowPained by near misses over the journey, Tuohy finally tasted premiership success in 2022, with he and 18 others breaking through for a maiden flag.
It has been a long five months since, but the 33-year-old is regularly transported back to that day at a moment’s notice.
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“The fun thing about it is for the most part you just go about your day then you sort of re-remember it every day, ” he told foxfooty.com.au.
“You kind of get to relive it again, every now and then you‘ll just pull the medal out and have a look, it just hits you all over again.
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“It’s strange, I made no secret about the fact it was pretty much the only thing driving me the last couple of years, we’d come close and not quite gotten there.
“It just feels good, I don’t know how to describe it, it just feels good going to training, you’re so happy you finally being able to get there, especially after so much criticism of how we’ve gone about it.”
That criticism had reached fever pitch in recent years after a string of losses at the pointy end of the season, with 2021 ending in an 83-point humiliation at the hands of eventual premiers Melbourne.
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It was a similar streak to the 2021 Dees that the Cats enjoyed in 2022, winning 16 straight games en route to the flag.
Having achieved the ultimate, it’s ironically the losses that haunted Tuohy he finds himself circling back to in order to maintain the rage.
“The pain from losing prelims and grand finals if anything is still more real than the joy of winning it. You still remember what it felt like walking in after those losses, ” he said.
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“The reality is if you sign up to play footy at the top level you have to accept that almost every year is going to end in disaster, just statistically. We‘re pretty keen to avoid that feeling. Going back-to-back is really hard, but I just find it hard to think we’re not a better team this year than we were last year.
“We lost Joel (Selwood) ... there’s going to be a few of us that have to pick up the load, but it’s just such a happy place to be in, given with how he went out I think everyone’s comfortable with it.”
An extraordinary draft haul saw them add three former top 20 picks and land pick No.7 as part of a trade for one of them, with Jack Bowes’ exit from the Gold Coast Suns an extravagant salary dump of sorts.
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“I thought ‘that makes no sense, you can’t give up what we gave up and then get back what we got’, so that seemed like a good deal.”
More good deals resulted in the arrival of young forward Ollie Henry from Collingwood and midfielder Tanner Bruhn from Greater Western Sydney, while pick No.7 eventually became Jhye Clark, who has moulded himself on Selwood.
“He’s freakish in what he does, everything he touches kind of stands out. Tanner has been super impressive, I wasn‘t fully sure what to expect. I knew what his skillset was but I’d never really seen it up close, he’s pretty ferocious in underneath. It’s not really the player I realised he was.
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While he spent much of his time in the back half for the Suns, Bowes was pitched a move into the midfield when the Cats were courting him.
“It’s such a good trait to have if you can flick between positions. I obviously spent a lot of time back and on the wing, Issy (Isaac Smith) goes wing, forward and we’ve got a lot of guys who split from the midfield out and we like