Matthew Lloyd has declared that it’s time for Geelong to head to the draft, instead of utilising their picks to top up with ready-made midfielders.
The Cats are on a three game losing streak, going down in round 10 to the Suns by a whopping 64 points.
It was the third worse loss of coach Chris Scott’s career, and it stemmed from their lack of midfield willpower.
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Now, Lloyd is urging Scott to consider the AFL draft as his next destination to land a generational talent, like West Coast’s Harley Reid.
Lloyd has declared that Scott’s ability to rest players is why the Cats have won two flags in his tenure, but the veterans won’t be around forever to come in and win games when their young brigade can’t stand up to serious contenders.
“I laud him for the way he manages his list, I’m not going to hammer him when he leaves players out,” Lloyd said on Nine’s Footy Classified on Monday night.
“It’s smart, you don’t take guys like Tom Hawkins (to Darwin).
“He’s fantastic with the way they do it (rest players). He wins premierships because of it.
“But I’m looking ahead to the end of the year. Do they go a Bailey Smith, or try to get a Clayton Oliver? I wouldn’t.”
Lloyd admits that the method of topping up with ready-made players to continue a successful cycle, is the way that Scott has kept the Cats so relevant since he took over in 2011.
“I know that Chris Scott will probably go that way, because he’s always done it that way,” he said.
But now, he wants to see Scott recruit and blood genuine youth, by heading back to the draft and playing hard to land young midfielders.
The Cats current middle men consists of an ageing group in Patrick Dangerfield, Mitch Duncan and Cam Guthrie, mixed in with a younger group of Tanner Bruhn, Jack Bowes, Max Holmes and Jhye Clark.
“I look at the future of this midfield at Geelong and saw it up against the Gold Coast Suns,” Lloyd said.
“I don’t think they’re the answer, those guys.
“I think they need to look to the future and say ‘Dangerfield’s going, Mitch Duncan’s going, and we don’t need to bring players in with baggage, who are going to give up’.”
The Cats sit third on the ladder with a 7-3 record, facing off against the Giants at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.