Key defender Harry Taylor says goodbyes are never easy to digest, however, he concedes it’s inevitable if the Cats are to move forward with their younger playing group.
“It’s something you have to get used to because it is quite a shock initially,” Taylor told News Limited.
“We’ve had a few transition out through retirement and (moving to) different clubs recently and I think we, as a club, are handling that better… we really trust our recruiting team – headed by Stephen Wells - who has done a fantastic job over a long period.”
“We trust the decisions the club is making are for the immediate future as well as the long term and we hope to be competitive now and going forward.”
Harry feels positive about the Cats emerging list and believes that their younger players are definitely up for the job.
“We certainly rate a lot of our younger individuals and we think they’re going to be able to step up and play some good football for us,” Taylor said.
However, Taylor says the Cats don’t expect them to become superstars over night. The only way they’ll improve, like anyone, is hours of game practice.
“(They’re) probably a bit inconsistent at times – like most young guys, but they’ll certainly play some really good games for us.”
This year Taylor, who cannot wait to kick off Round 1 at Geelong’s home ground, secretly hopes he gets to play against his old teammate, James Podsiadly.
“It’d be pretty exciting. I’ve probably played on him more than most other players from a training point of view,” Taylor explained.
“We spent a fair bit of time next to each other at Simonds Stadium. To get a chance to do it with him as the opposition will be pretty unique.
“We had a few pre-game rituals we used to go through, so it will be interesting to see if he’s keen to keep doing those.”
Despite his capabilities in front of goal and Nathan Vardy’s absence, Taylor says he’ll play in his usual position down-back unless the Cats really need him.
“I think I’ll generally spend most of my time in defence, like last year and maybe occasionally go forward if the team needs me to,” Taylor said.
This week Harry Taylor stepped into Selwood’s captaincy boots and flew to Adelaide to represent Geelong for the AFL Captains’ senior launch.
Even though Selwood’s hamstring injury was described as minor, Geelong’s General Football Manager Neil Balme said the skipper’s strict recovery schedule made it impossible for him to take two-days leave.
“He was having treatment (so that’s why he didn’t go to Adelaide),” Balme told News Limited.
We didn’t want him to fly. He has to have constant intensive treatment and he can’t have that if he has to go to Adelaide for two days.
“(The scans) were pretty good. It’s not as bad, like we said at the start, but it’s still a hamstring injury and we have to treat it with physiotherapy and other types of work.
The Cats, along with Selwood, are determined to have their captain ready by March 20th to take on Adelaide at Simonds Stadium for Round 1.
It’s fairly proactive treatment. He just can’t have two weeks off, have a stretch and be ready to go.”
