Dwayne Russell believes Steve Hocking will be an “agent of stability” at the Cats after the new CEO extended Chris Scott’s contract by a further two years.
Hocking -the AFL’s former general manager of football operations - took over from Brian Cook after the Cats’ 2021 season.
Over the last few weeks, he’s overseen numerous changes, with multiple assistant coaches leaving the club.
However, household Geelong name James Kelly and former Blue Eddie Betts have been recruited to form part of the Cats’ new coaching panel.
There were queries whether Scott would go around again after the Cats’ seemingly missed their best shot at another premiership in 2021, however Hocking has put his faith in the successful coach.
“For the record, I like it. Steve Hocking was an agent of change at the AFL, I think he’s initially going to be an agent of stability with their coach Chris Scott,” Russell told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“We have seen some major departures from the Geelong Football Club that have shaken its stability in recent times.
“(Former president) Frank Costa is a big part of that, he’s sorely missed.
“We know Brian Cook has left and gone to Carlton, so it’s an interesting one to a lot of Geelong supporters.”
“They’ve added Eddie Betts, they’ve added James Kelly so they do have a few fresh ideas coming in around Chris Scott.
Scott was contracted to 2022 but the new deal sees his future locked in until 2024.
Russell believes the Cats made the right call on the duration of the extension.
“I don’t think you could have extended his contract by one year,” he said.
“It still throws up that air of, ‘We’re not quite sure about it.’
“I think the two-year extension is right, I’m into it and I like it.”
Geelong continued their recent trend over putting together a strong home and away season before buckling in the finals, losing the Preliminary Final to Melbourne by 83 points.