Geelong captain Joel Selwood says his team will learn from this year’s grand finalists as the Cats look to improve on their eighth-place finish next season.
The champion midfielder told the Geelong Advertiser the Cats are confident that they can revamp themselves next year and accomplish something special in 2019.
“I always look at things in a positive manner and what we need to do is have a look at these couple of weeks that we have been out of finals and have a look at how teams have been maybe doing it better than us,” he said.
“We will work out a plan about how to go about it to take the next step we need to, but we do have a strong list, there is no doubt about that.”
Both of this year’s grand finalists sides were transformed in the pre-season.
Selwood said Geelong would use Collingwood and West Coast as an example and look to figure out what changes it had to make to get back to consistently playing its best football.
“The two sides that played off this weekend finished in the bottom half of the ladder last year and gave themselves a crack this year, so things that you change really quickly, they can make a big difference.
“Looking at both sides now, I picture West Coast and they are dancing in the rooms before the game and Collingwood, you just see them having fun during the week, so read into that what you want.
“But I am more looking at on-field stuff, and both groups, things are coming pretty naturally to them and they are just playing organic footy and are really enjoying what they are doing.”
Changes have already started at Geelong, with six players delisted in the days following the quick conclusion to the club’s finals campaign.
In what appears to be a busy upcoming trade period for the Cats, Geelong will likely see several departures and arrivals over the next month.
Small forward Lincoln McCarthy has already requested a trade to Brisbane, while former local juniors including Luke Dahlhaus, Gary Rohan and Jack Steven have been linked to the club.
Selwood affirmed he had not met with any potential trade or free agency targets the Cats have in mind for next year.
“I haven’t spoken to any of the boys or our team a hell of a lot, there is still a bit of time before that trade period that I will get across what I need to but I haven’t had to play a role as of yet,” he said.
“For me it has just been about refreshing, getting over a little bit of a bad mood that I have been in but then just making sure that we reset and do things a bit better.”
