Why are AFL clubs not raiding Geelong's talent pool?

Why are AFL clubs not raiding Geelong for players?

It’s a question Tim Watson and Garry Lyon posed on SEN Breakfast as big name players continue to head to the Cattery with few ever wanting to leave.

The 2024 trade period saw superstar midfielder Bailey Smith named as the club’s latest recruit and reports this week suggest that troubled Bulldog Jamarra Ugle-Hagan could be the next target.

Last year also saw Geelong powerbrokers meet with Clayton Oliver after the Demons offered him up for a trade, and while that deal fell through, it certainly underlines the club as the top destination for big names.

“They’re often on the raid and they identify a player and they land those players,” Watson said.

“They have recent history which suggests they have been successful. They lost Tim Kelly which was down to family circumstances and they did extraordinarily well out of it but apart from that does any one every try to raid Geelong and their players?”

Lyon agrees with Watson's take, and he credited players rarely leaving Geelong to the environment and culture coach Chris Scott has cultivated.

“They should,” was Garry Lyon’s immediate response.

“Full credit to Chris and the lot of them, the environment is such that nobody wants to leave they only want to come and that’s a great thing for the club.”

Underlining the club's impressive retention strategy was news this week that Jeremy Cameron, Ollie Henry and Shannon Neale have all signed contract extensions.