It will come as no surprise to even the most casual of AFL followers that Geelong’s preliminary final loss will provide plenty of motivation for the club’s 2025 campaign.
Leading Brisbane by 25 points early in the third quarter and holding all the momentum, the Cats were overrun by the eventual premier.
Reigning Carji Greeves medalist Max Holmes, who sat out most of the second half with a hamstring issue after setting up the Patrick Dangerfield goal that gave Geelong its biggest lead, says the defeat left a feeling of disappointment many of his young teammates hadn’t felt in their careers.
“In that prelim, we had a lot of young guys playing and a lot of guys that haven’t experienced that kind of loss and heartbreak yet,” he said.
I think there’s a lot of boys that have worked hard in the off-season, and there’s a lot of boys that are going to work hard in this pre-season
“It’s really spurring a lot of guys on.
“Then there’s guys that missed out on that team, as well, that really want to step forward and make their mark this year.
“You don’t need a motivator to try and play good footy and win.
“But, it definitely is one that’s in the back of our minds most of the time.”
Also spurring Holmes is the arrival of Bailey Smith following an off-season trade.
The former Western Bulldog will add some class to Geelong’s midfield as it looks to go one week better in 2025.
And he’s already making an impression.
“I’ve done a couple of training sessions with Bailey, and he loves training; (he) works the house down,” Holmes said.
“He’s a fantastic bloke, and I think he’s going to be really good for us as a team.
“We do have a lot of older players, (and) we’ve got a lot of younger players. We don’t have that many around his age (24 next month), so I think it’s good to have that kind of diversity.
“And he comes in as someone a lot of boys will look up to, and he’s going to set some standards around here.”
Holmes claimed his first best-and-fairest playing a mixture of midfield and half-back, and the arrival of Smith will add a new dynamic around the ball for Geelong.
What role coach Chris Scott has Holmes playing will be one to keep an eye on early in the season.
“‘Scotty’ is a mastermind in the coaching sphere, so I really enjoy the midfield, I really enjoy the backline, and I think preferably maybe midfield in the future,” Holmes said.
“But look, I’ll just play wherever it’s necessary as a team.”
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