Having won three premierships with Geelong since 2007, Bartel, is also hoping that their preseason preparation and new recruits can help them to continue the club’s success.
‘’Yeah I hope the pattern continues for this year, that would be really nice,’’ Bartel said.
Geelong realized that there were key areas in the team that needed experienced players to fill, in order to proceed with the development of the club, as well as their younger players.
According to Bartel the club has chosen competent footballers with the correct skill set for the job, including Hamish McIntosh from North Melbourne and Jared Rivers from Melbourne.
‘’They’ve slotted in really well, I think everyone has had a look at Sydney over the past few years (who) really traded for a need and it was pretty clear that we needed another experienced ruckman, and getting Hamish who can play forward will really help our young ruckman out,’’ Bartel said.
‘’And over the past few years we have steadily lost our defenders, going back to Tom Harley, Darren Milburn and Matthew Scarlett, so we really needed another defender that could play tall and Rivs slotted in there really nicely with our back, it looks like he’s been there for quite some time.’’
The count down to the beginning of the AFL season has begun and Bartel is looking forward to playing in front of a big crowd at their opening blockbuster against Hawthorn on Saturday April 1st, in the second half of round 1.
‘’Yeah they are great games to play and we respect Hawthorn immensely, and you always want to play in really good games of football in front of big crowds, especially at the G,’’ Bartel explained.
‘’They’ve always been close which has made things exciting and hopefully we can stay on top again.’’
Another new face that has surprised many people beyond the Geelong football club is the young steeplechase athlete, Mark Blicavs (Blits-arvs).
Bartel explains how most athletes need a lot of time to learn the craft of football before they can play at a senior level.
However, the team has been amazed with Blicavs remarkable improvement in such a short amount of time, which he showcased week after week during NAB Cup.
‘’Yeah he has been unbelievable, when he first came down, like most of the guys that come from athletics, you think the guy can’t kick or anything like that and you hope to have a bit of giggle, but he has certainly got the skills there and there is no doubt in his athleticism, he has shocked us all with his improvement,’’ Bartel said.
‘’He asks a thousand questions at training he just wants to learn, and his defensive pressure is huge, he’s a big guy, he is nearly 200cm tall and hopefully he can give a lot of ruckman around the league a bit of a headache with his running power.’’
‘’I am sure the big guys don’t want to be chasing him up and down the ground.
‘’His improvement has been remarkable and he earned his spot in NAB Cup.’’
After travelling through the majority of last year with a navicular stress fracture in his foot, Bartel reassures that he has made a full recovery and is feeling mentally, as well as physically refreshed, for the season ahead.
‘’Yeah it’s all good, probably for the first time in my career I’ve been able to actually put the feet up for the off season and not do much,’’ Bartel said.
‘’But if anything it has probably mentally refreshed me for the season, it’s hard watching training but it’s made me extra keen to get back.’’
