Geelong recruiting guru Stephen Wells has admitted there will come a time where the Cats will have to head back to the draft, despite missing the top eight just twice in the last 18 seasons.
The Cats have looked to add mature aged players in recent years, with Jeremy Cameron, Shaun Higgins and Isaac Smith all walking through the door in last year’s trade period.
The club only had five players under the age of 24 on the field against the Giants on Friday night, Max Holmes the only teenager.
Wells is the master behind Geelong’s ability to maintain a strong list in recent decades, but has conceded his approach is not one that will last.
“It’s very, very hard to do,” Wells told SEN Afternoons of the club’s approach to regenerating its list.
“There will come a time when we’ll have to go down a slightly different path to what we have in recent years.
“When you look at the three other teams that are left in the finals, they’ve all had terrific opportunities at the draft and made the most of them.”
Wells and his team have often copped criticism for the approach, the belief that its recruiting has opened up a hole of young talent on the Cats’ list.
To those comments, he concedes the critics may not be wrong.
“Time will tell. I guess eventually they might be right… but we’re very conscious of trying to compete as much as we can in the short term (while balancing the long term),” Wells said.
“The young guys, even though they’re not playing senior footy every week, they’re getting the opportunity to train and learn from players who have been champions of our club for a long time.”
As it stands, Geelong has pick 30, 32 and 35 in the upcoming 2021 AFL draft.