The future of the game has come into focus during the forced shutdown of the 2020 AFL season, with some suggesting clubs spend too much on football departments and specifically coaching staff.
While this may be the case at some clubs, the Cats coaching staff has remained relatively lean in the past 20 years, with only three more coaches at the club compared with the turn of the century.
A reduction in coaching staff would likely see a de-emphasis on the development of young players and greater resources pumped into those ready to play at the highest level.
“One thing that has really changed is the AFL clubs not only run the AFL team but also an academy program that includes a VFL team and a big squad of developing players are involved,” Cats coach Chris Scott told ABC radio.
“When I started playing in the 1990s that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t resourced the way AFL clubs are now. (Smaller coaching staff) would mean more focus on the AFL team like it used to be which would automatically mean a whole lot of staff dedicated to the development of young players would probably be pushed to the lower leagues. I don’t think it is a matter of saying we want fewer people to do the same level of work that is being done at the moment.”
Geelong has been at the forefront of developing players since Scott became coach after the 2010 season. The Cats have continually turned their list over, with only 10 players remaining from the 2015 season.
The focus on development of young players has seen a raft of late draft picks turn into established AFL players, helping the Cats to the remain strong contenders in recent years after experiencing a golden era in the previous decade.
