Hocking on Geelong's AFLW season so far

It has been incredible, really pleasing.

10 wins in a row, going for 11 tomorrow night against the Bulldogs, just super excited for them. It is just great to see our female athletes enjoying their football as much as what they are.

I think the entire team, Mick Stinear, you go right through to Ryan Pendlebury, Sam Simpson and Elise Coventry, they are doing a great job.

Tennille in high performance as well, Dom Condo, the team that are supporting our AFLW players is just doing an exceptional piece of work. 

King on the 2027 fixture takeaways

We are really happy, there is a lot to like about it.

The games at GMHBA Stadium in particular, 10 home games again which we are rapt about. Then of those, there are a great mix of opponents.

We have got three other big Victorian teams coming down in Essendon, Richmond and Carlton. Good to welcome them down here after a bit of an absence. Then along with a lot of other marquee matchups including Melbourne, Brisbane and others.

We are really happy with the timeslots that we have got for those games. We love the Saturday twilight slot, our members and fans give us that feedback. We have got three of those, two Friday night blockbusters and then a Saturday early afternoon match in Round 3 against Richmond, which we think is a great way to kick off and very family-friendly. Really happy with the GMHBA Stadium home games.

Our MCG home game on Easter Monday in Round 2. That is probably the other key part of the fixture that we are rapt about, is the number of prime-time marquee matchups we are in. That Easter Monday in Round 2, before that the season opener up in Sydney, then a number of Thursday and Friday night games in and around the middle part of the year.

We are very happy, we think there is a lot for all our members and fans, whether you are in Geelong, Melbourne or around Australia. We think there is a lot in it and we are looking forward to the next year. 

Hocking on Geelong's AFLW Co-Captains

I love that they have kept their individuality.

Nina is very purpose-driven, and very process-driven. She is just having an outstanding year.

Becky brings all of the razzle and dazzle, it is very much about the fun, the music and getting around one another. I think they complement one another exceptionally well.

It was always going to be difficult to follow Meg McDonald, who did an exceptional job as captain here for so many years.

But I think the two of them have landed it really well, and they have just supported one another in an exceptional way. They have wrapped their arms around the group, it has been really impressive how they have delivered on those roles. 

King on the privilege of playing in the season opener

Yeah it is great.

Sydney are a strong team, so it is good to have those challenges early.

I think when you get the opportunity to be in a season opener, that says something about the club. We are a strong club, a club that will attract interest and a strong broadcast outcome.

We hope that we will have a number of our fans who can make it to that game as well. 

Hocking on the youth of Geelong's AFL list

I think post-2022, what we recognised is that that wasn't going to be our next premiership team.

Premierships are hard to win, I know that our members feel like we are quite regularly at the pointy end of it, but they are really hard to win, you have to get a lot right.

So we got to work post-2022 and brought a lot of these young players in. They are later draft picks as well because if you continue to have success, it is actually hard to get to the top end of the draft.

Stephen Wells, Andrew Mackie, we have Tom Lonergan as part of that team now, Simon Murphy, they have done an incredible job. The coaches have got the talent to work with, but you need to have the people bringing that talent in. So really appreciative of the work that the team have done.

We will go into the draft that is coming up, we have got some later picks and that team are exceptionally good in that space. They have identified some talent already that they will go after.

Then in answer to your question, I am just super excited about Lawson Humphries, Connor O'Sullivan, Ollie Dempsey, Jay Polkinghorne, you could just keep going. I sort of feel like I could reel off a dozen.

I think the pleasing thing was that we got that exposure in the Carlton Final at the MCG, in front of 90,000+ for those players. Then we got the exposure and the Wharfie Time over at Freo. Great experience and a real downpayment on our future. 

Hocking on Friday night's blockbuster clash

Well 7.15pm it starts and it is a Friday night, you get the weekend to yourself.

We are about to head into Finals and so we would just love all of our members, if they can, and if you can't get there, we understand. But if you can, come on down.

It is a great atmosphere here, there is a lot for everybody of all age groups within AFLW. Everything from the DJ right through to the sausage sizzle, you name it, we have it all going on. I think we have even had pinball machines at different stages as well throughout the season.

If you get down to the Cattery here, inside GMHBA Stadium there is a lot of fun to be had. It is a different audience in terms of a younger audience that like to come, young boys and girls really enjoy it.

Everyone gets up and about, so please get along. If you can't come tomorrow night, try and earmark a Final to attend.

We really want everyone to get behind our AFLW team, it is one of the most favourite parts of my job. So just excited for the next month ahead.