Geelong Football Club CEO Steve Hocking joined 3AW’s Wide World of Sports this week, providing incredible insight into what has helped the Club build a period of sustained success.  

The Cats have reached their 13th Preliminary Final in 18 years, continuing an incredible run of success which has seen them compete in 18 of the last 21 Finals series.  

Hocking touched on the journey the Club has been on over the past two decades, noting the culture that has been built under a number of strong leaders.  

“I remember starting here in 2006 in a full-time capacity, it was really difficult to have players and staff interested in our program,” Hocking said.  

“I think over these past two decades from Mark Thompson but particularly with Chris Scott, one of the things Chris says at the start of each year is we are back at, let’s give ourselves the best chance possible.  

“He takes that mentality into all the decisions we work through, that rubs off on players but it also does on staff.  

“It is seen as a place that people would like to settle their family into, the community down here embraces our football club in a different way to what it used to. 

“They understand that they have something pretty special down here, they make sure that they dive into that.” 

Chris Scott has continued his remarkable run at the helm, preparing for his ninth Preliminary Final as head coach on Saturday in just 14 seasons.  

Hocking lifted the lid on the process that saw Scott land in the top job at Geelong, watching his progress for a number of years before securing his services in 2011.   

“You take me back to that period with Mark Thompson, in 2008 he was selected to be coach of the Victorian team against an All-Stars team,” Hocking said.  

“We came together and we had an opportunity to explore assistant coaches across the competition, we didn't want it to be just about Geelong so we took the chance to have a look at others.  

“Chris was invited in to be part of Mark's coaching team at the time, that was a mini review that was conducted at that point of time.  

“We really liked what we saw, we collected information along the way and you never know when you are going to act on it.  

“Those people when you see them under the heat and stress of coaching, they jump to the front of the queue.”