September is upon us and while the Cats are readying themselves for a blockbuster qualifying final against Richmond at the MCG next Friday night, the season has run its course for our VFL and VFLW programs.

Both sides were gallant in testing circumstances – an inexperienced VFL side manfully fighting its way through an injury curse that would not relent; the VFLW team surpassing all expectations in a ground breaking inaugural season.

Across two instalments, Cats Media will go one-on-one with the respective coaches Shane O’Bree (VFL) and Paul Hood (VFLW) in extensive Q&A’s covering the tale of the season, the surprises, the success, the challenges along the way and what’s next in 2018.

First up, it’s Shane O’Bree and the VFL.

Your side finished 8-10 in 10^th position and ultimately missed out on finals. How would you summarise the season?

I thought the season would turn in our favour earlier than what it did. I saw similar signs to the year before where I thought at the halfway mark we’d won enough and were even at 5-5 and I thought the young guys normally start gelling together.

But we got a few injuries during that period, a four to six period where I really thought there were winnable games for us and we didn’t win as many as I thought we would. It was probably a lack of experience and fair few VFL injuries and AFL injuries that tested our depth.

At the same time, it was good to get experience into the boys and they probably benefitted, with the last three rounds showing that

At times throughout the season the AFL list was severely depleted through injury, which has to affect the VFL program. Was that a genuine factor?

It was a factor but it’s a massive positive at the same time. We lost a lot of our core VFL boys as well. They got injured at the same time, which was unfortunate.

But we played a lot of first year AFL boys with a lot of first year VFL-listed boys that we had sitting on our development list to grow and in the end we had to play them, get games into them and fast track them. I think they benefitted from that and it really sets us up for next year hopefully.

Was it a season then that was able to throw up a few surprises?

We got a lot of games into players that we weren’t expecting to. Players like Jack Blood, Trent McMullen, Cal Mitchell, Luke Webb, Josh Guthrie – all those boys ended up playing a dozen to 10 games each which, at the start of the year, we didn’t expect to play that many and get that many games out of them.

It probably shows that we had the depth there, but we weren’t expected to use it. We did in the end and it wasn’t a bad thing.

What does that then do for the program heading into next year?

It gives us a lot of confidence that we’ve got a lot of young guys that are up to VFL standard, for a start.

It goes to show with the depth in the GFL [Geelong Football League] and the under 18 competitions that we can choose those players, get them into our program earlier, get them up to speed and when we do need them, they’re ready to go. 

Those guys I’ve mentioned played really good footy for us, but we probably didn’t expect to have so many in the same team at the same time. It puts a lot of stress on even our young AFL boys, those that are first year players playing with those same kids. They’re expecting them to be more experienced, but our first year AFL players are actually more experienced than the VFL-listed boys and you really want it the other way.

What about those more experienced VFL players that were able to show they’re a class above the level this year?

James Tsitas had an amazing year. A defender last year, he backed up playing as a midfielder. We want all our VFL boys to be flexible so they can stay in the team. He had a good year.

Someone like Sam Dobson, we couldn’t get him in the team because we were too tall. His form for St Mary’s was unbelievable and in the end we did get him in and he made a big impact at VFL level.

Unfortunately Tom Atkins had a middle part of the year where he got injured but he started off on fire and finished really well.

They’re three guys, but then you’ve got Ben Reid and Dan Capiron new this year from other clubs and they’re quality VFL players that will benefit from a year in our system and will grow.

James Tsitas made a successful move to the midfield in 2017. (Photo: AFL Photos) 

What were the AFL-listed players able to give you this year?

They were really exciting. Sam Simpson, Zach Guthrie, Jack Henry, Jamaine Jones.

The first two I mentioned managed to play AFL games, but the last two grew in confidence as the year went on and believed they were good enough to play at VFL level.

It was great for their development. It just takes time with those guys. The first two or three months, you’re spending the time just educating them and how they should be playing the Geelong way and then just backing themselves, believing they’re good enough to consistently play over four quarters. 

Once they have a good game, it’s amazing how much they grow. Jamaine had a game where he kicked five goals and after that he went really well. Jack Henry was the same and played in multiple positions. You only have to see what Sam Simpson and Zach Guthrie were able to achieve at AFL level to know they’re good enough players to play that standard.

What about you personally? Your second year as VFL senior coach. How have you seen your progress and how are you feeling as a senior coach?

I’m feeling a lot more comfortable at VFL level, coaching my own team. I’ve got a good bunch of assistant coaches, some of which have had two years with me as well as some new faces that have really supported myself and the program really well.

We’ve had Nathan Tweddle (VFL Coordinator) come on this year and all our staff have been there for a couple of years too. We’ve all grown as a group.

It’s helped my job and made it easier to communicate, to be across all the needs of the players and those that are playing either VFL, GFL or my Academy players. To know what to expect and trust the support I’ve got around me.

With the 2017 season now over, how do you feel at this point looking towards next year?

At the moment, it’s a bit of ‘what could have been’. But at the same time, we’re reviewing and reflecting what we need to do to our program to make it better. 

It’s been two different years. The first year, we improved and got to the finals. This year, we got challenged and need to add a bit more experience to our squad. So we need to keep improving and making this an elite AFL program even though it’s a VFL program, and one that compliments our AFL boys when they play.

Jamaine Jones came on leaps and bounds in his first season at the Cats. (Photo: AFL Photos)