GEELONG's player learning and development manager, Claire Mitchell-Taverner, believes social media is a key reason why many elite footballers are no longer enjoying the game.

"You can't do anything now, as an athlete, without assuming someone's watching," Mitchell-Taverner said during an interview with Chris Appleby and Adam McNicol on this week's episode of PodCats (click here to listen or use the audioBoom player below).

"Everyone's a journalist, as we talk to the players about, and you can understand that for some personalities it doesn't really sit well.

"They love playing footy still, but you've got to be more than just an athlete now to play [AFL] football.

"You actually have to be almost a brand in yourself, and you've got to be so careful, and sometimes that doesn't sit very well."

Mitchell-Taverner, who won a gold medal with the Hockeyroos at the Sydney Olympics, has been a Geelong supporter all her life.

She started working for the club in March after spending seven years in a player development role with the AFL Players' Association.

"I've always looked in at the club with awe," she said. "When the opportunity came up I was here in a heartbeat."

Mitchell-Taverner is working at Geelong alongside the club's other development manager, former Cats player David Johnson.

"What's nice here at the club, and [general manager – football] Steve Hocking is amazing on this stuff, is that it's person first," Mitchell-Taverner said.

"Performance will come from having a collection of really great people, and our role, I suppose, is to help those guys be the best they can be in all aspects of their world.

"We're seeing if we can help them enjoy the game more and more, and get more and more pleasure out of the little things they do day-to-day, so that not everything hangs on that result on the weekend.

"We know how hard they work, and we try and really help them balance their lives so that they're happy people here, and they want to come here and want to stay, and they also want to be part of a really high-performing team."

Mitchell-Taverner is confident that the Cats will finish their 2015 campaign strongly.

"I just think there's extraordinary optimism and real hope for what's left of this season and seasons to come," she said.

"I'm really surprised by how resilient a lot of these guys are, with some really significant injury setbacks.

"There's some guys that are working so hard, and keeping their chin up, and just really positive about what they can do to get back and develop off the field.

"I couldn't comment on the performance side, I don't think.

"But if attitude goes anywhere towards it, then the Cats are a good shot for being better placed at the end of the year than what we are at this stage of the season.

"From what I see, the future's really bright."

Claire Mitchell-Taverner chats to injured player Linc McCarthy and fellow development manager David Johnson during a training session at Geelong College