Matthew Scarlett says he is attempting to revive his relationship with his old Geelong coach Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson.
Thompson has endured much-publicised struggles over the past few years relating to drug use and trafficking.
During that time, the former Essendon captain and two-time Cats premiership coach fell out of contact with many people close to him, but he is beginning to rekindle some friendships according to Scarlett.
The legendary Geelong defender was the player Thompson picked out as his favourite Cat in a recent interview in the Herald Sun which has further inspired Scarlett to get in touch.
“I got sent that little article by my wife. We had a good laugh about that,” Scarlett said on SEN SA’s Kymbo & The Rooch.
“I’ve got an unbelievable relationship with Bomber, as a lot of us did. He was like a second father to me and a real father figure for all of us.
“It’s been really sad over the last couple of years and sort of lost a little bit of contact with him.
“But over the last week, even before these articles, I kept reaching out to Bomber and he’s starting to reach back to me via text messages. So that’s a really good sign.
“Hopefully he can get out of all this trouble he’s in and get his life back on track and get some happiness. Some really positive steps in the last few weeks.”
The three-time Geelong premiership player and six-time All-Australian is currently working wonders with the Cats back line as the club’s defensive coach.
Scarlett also spoke glowingly of the club’s culture which has been built on the foundation of the Bomber days and now sits firmly with Chris Scott.
“Obviously we’ve got a really good coach in Chris Scott, we’ve got a stable Board, a great CEO (Brian Cook) and we’ve got really good leaders on field,” he added.
“If you’re a young player you come into the club and you look around and you quickly pick up how you do things at Geelong.
“That is the Geelong way, that is the culture we’ve built over a long period of time and it’s set by your key people.”
The third-placed Cats will look to make it four wins on the trot when they meet the winless Crows at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.