The Herald Sun’s end of season top 50 is a subjective exercise and open to good old fashioned debate, but it’s worth taking a minute to look at the eight Geelong players on this year’s list, and importantly, how they come to be wearing the hoops.

The Cats lifted the premiership cup almost a month ago and in the time since the Cats recruitment and list management team led by Andrew Mackie and Stephen Wells have been able to add high upside players like Tanner Bruhn, Jack Bowes, Ollie Henry, and the 7th pick in the upcoming NAB AFL National Draft.

It’s sparked a debate about what some are labeling the Cats’ competitive advantages, and while the lure of Geelong Road offers a pristine location, lifestyle, and elite club culture, as Mark Robinson’s list can attest, it’s been matched with shrewd talent identification too.

In order, Robinson deemed Jeremy Cameron (4), Tom Hawkins (5), Tom Stewart (19), Cam Guthrie (22), Patrick Dangerfield (25), Tyson Stengle (30), and Tom Atkins (45) fit for this year’s list.

Of that group there are four, maybe five players, you could say the Cats have taken a flyer on. Players that every other club in the competition had an opportunity to scoop up but didn’t.

Here’s the list:

The Mark Blicavs story is well known. A former steeplechaser  - the classic athlete turned footballer, except none have turned out to be quite like Blicavs. Rookied because Wells thought he was ‘worth a punt.”

Corey Enright retired as the best small to medium defender in the game a couple of years ago, and Geelong go and pick a 24 year old name Tom Stewart playing at South Barwon with the 40th pick in the 2016 draft. He’s now assumed Boris’ mantle as an unrivalled backline intercepter and general.  

Cam Guthrie is now a premiership player with two best and fairest medals in his trophy cabinet, one of them in a premiership year. Not bad for the 23rd pick in the 2010 draft.

After last month’s premiership triumph, the Tyson Stengle story is probably as well known as Blicav’s. Delisted free agent to All-Australian premiership player in 12 months. Sheesh.

And finally, Tom Atkins who was toiling away in the VFL for years but not entirely under the radar. He was the Cats’ captain, picked up two best and fairest, and was named by more than a few pundits, AFL.com.au and ESPN among them as one of the best mature age prospects ahead of the 2018 draft. Every team had their chance to grab ‘Axe’ but didn’t.

While Patrick Dangerfield and Jeremy Cameron were undeniably drawn to Geelong for family, lifestyle, and cultural reasons, and Tom Hawkins, next to Gary Ablett Jnr could be the Father/Son draft steal of the century, it’s been the Cats’ eye for talent and willingness to take a flyer on players that others have passed up, that has been just as important.