Geelong's lowest-ever finishing position in its history is 13th - and the club finished 12th in 2023.
Is it time for the 2022 premiers to bottom out in hope of regenerating their ageing list?
Letter Grade: D
The Sporting News analyses Geelong's 2023 campaign.
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Did the Cats over/under achieve in 2023?
After winning the AFL premiership in 2022, the Cats were expected to contend again but a drop off in performance because of their ageing list was also predicted.
However, no one thought Geelong would miss the finals and finish just one position off the worst finish in the club's history.
The Cats were in the finals race until the second-last round, when they were comprehensively beaten by St Kilda.
Joel Selwood's retirement was felt by Geelong more than expected, with their midfield struggling at times.
Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron had great individual seasons, with more than 100 goals between the duo, while Ollie Henry kicked 41.
Their season definitely should be categorised as an underachievement though, going from flag winner to missing the eight.
What worked?
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Geelong's forward line was brilliant with Cameron (53 goals), Hawkins (49 goals) and Henry (41 goals) all having great seasons.
You would expect a team with this much firepower to make the finals though, showing it was other areas in the team that struggled.
Tyson Stengle, who won an All-Australian blazer in 2022, will be disappointed by his 27-goal season, while other players who could have kicked more goals include Gary Rohan (18 goals), Patrick Dangerfield (11 goals) and Gryan Miers (7 goals).
Miers does deserve some praise however, nabbing the second-most goal assists of all-time in an AFL season with 41
What went wrong?
The retirement of Selwood was expected to affect the Cats midfield but they also couldn't have budgeted for Cam Guthrie only playing six games after being struck down by a toe injury.
This meant Geelong struggled for ball winners all season in the engine room, with it telling that Tom Stewart, a defender, averaged the most disposals per game for the team (23).
For players that played more than 10 games, only three others averaged over 20 disposals a game - Mitch Duncan (22), Isaac Smith (21) and Patrick Dangerfield (20).
If you aren't winning the football enough at the coalface, then the defence is going to be exposed to plenty of entries.
Geelong best player
Four-time All-Australian Tom Stewart is the only Geelong player nominated in this year's All-Australian squad - showing he was the only Geelong player at an elite level in 2023.
Dependable as always, Stewart was able to shut down his opponents but also provide intercepts, run and drive out of the backline.
Who should Geelong target in AFL trade period?
With Hawkins set to go around again and Cameron still in his prime, the forward line looks set.
Geelong's defence is solid with Stewart and Sam De Koning, although if Esava Ratugolea leaves, the team might be short a tall in the backline.
Midfield appears to be where the Cats' issues lie, and targets that have been mentioned include Darcy Parish, Bailey Smith and Cameron Fleeton.
