Geelong coach Chris Scott reckons it will be an emotional day at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, as Cats fans get set to farewell some club greats. This weekend’s match against West Coast will be the final game at the Cattery this season, with Tom Hawkins getting the chance to say goodbye to the home crowd following his retirement announcement. Zach Tuohy has been named to play in the side, following his decision to hang up the boots at the end of the season, announced earlier this week. While there’s a lot to play out still this season, Scott said it’s a great opportunity for Geelong fans. “It should be a joyous occasion but there’s going to be a tinge of sadness as well,” he said. “These moments, although they do happen every year, players finish and play their last game for the club but it doesn’t make it any less emotional.”
The Cats would guarantee a top-four berth and a double finals chance with victory over West Coast at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.
The struggling Eagles will field one of their least experienced teams of the year after Tom Barrass (back), Jeremy McGovern (thumb), Andrew Gaff (retired), Liam Ryan (personal reasons) and Alex Witherden (back) were all ruled out. It means Geelong enters the match as the hottest of favourites and with all the pressure on them, especially given the game will double as a home farewell to retiring veteran Zach Tuohy. The match also marks the 100-game milestone for Zach Guthrie, and Rhys Stanley's 150th for the Cats following 58 appearances for St Kilda. With the stakes so high and so many things to celebrate, a loss to West Coast is simply unfathomable. “It’s a pressure we should embrace,” Scott told reporters on Friday. “The carrot for us is obvious in terms of what the game means. I think it’s a mistake to shy away from the things that are at stake. The little individual parts (retirements and milestones) that go with it add to it. The alternative is you could play it a little bit safer and not be in this position, but that’s no way to live a life. We are on edge, and there is some nervous excitement. But that’s when the good stuff happens.”
A win for the Cats would see them secure a spot in the top four, but a big enough margin could mean they squeeze inside the top two. Geelong would be needing other results this weekend to go its way to lock in a home final. Scott said his team is just focused on beating the 16th-placed Eagles, which he believes won’t be an easy task. “If you look at team’s ladder position and think that’s going to translate into the way they’ll play against you, you’re making a big mistake,” he said. “We obviously have a healthy respect for their midfield. Harley is obvious, Yeo over the course of his career is obvious and Tim Kelly we know better than most and hold him in very high regard. You look through their players and you can’t help but respect what they can do. So that has us on edge a little bit more.”
West Coast has lost its past nine games at GMHBA Stadium by an average of 70 points. The Eagles’ inclusions this week - Rhett Bazzo, Clay Hall, Jack Hutchinson, Ryan Maric and Campbell Chesser - will hardly send a scare through Geelong's camp, but Scott is wary of a West Coast outfit containing midfield stars such as Elliot Yeo, Harley Reid and Tim Kelly. The Cats coach has taken a particular liking to No.1 draft pick Reid. “I’ve got a bit of a bias towards the types of players like Harley,” Scott said. “I can’t wait to see what he does against other teams for the next few years. He’s going to be good fun to watch, that’s for sure.”
Scott said there will be mixed emotions for people watching Tuohy's GMHBA Stadium farewell.. “It should be a joyous occasion, but there will be a tinge of sadness as well,” he said. “Zach really quickly has become a lot of people's favourite player. I guess in a sense it’s like Tom Hawkins and Joel Selwood, you just hope they can play forever, and you know that’s not true. It’s a bit like celebrating someone’s life - you should celebrate their life rather than mourn the end.”
The window to the future of the West Coast Eagles will be wide open when the club completes the 2024 season with a challenging match-up against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday. The Eagles match committee has made five changes for this tough road trip and all of the inclusions are young emerging players, including defender Rhett Bazzo who will play his first game of the season. Joining Bazzo on the trip east are first-year midfielder Clay Hall and forward Jack Hutchinson, utility player Ryan Maric and another exciting youngster in his second season of senior football, Campbell Chesser. They come in for champion defender Jeremy McGovern, who underwent thumb surgery today, retired veteran Andrew Gaff, forward Liam Ryan - who is unavailable because of personal reasons - and half-back Alex Witherden who has a hip injury. The only player omitted after the loss to Carlton last week is midfielder Zane Trew.
Tuohy has been recalled after he was managed last weekend, while Jed Bews gets another chance and Tanner Bruhn returns from concussion. Oisin Mullin and Mitch Knevitt have both been dropped while veteran Gary Rohan is being managed.
The inclusion of Bazzo is a tribute to his perseverance after the first part of his campaign was ruined by injury. A groin injury in pre-season kept him on the sidelines until mid-July – playing in the WAFL for the first time when the senior team played Brisbane. He has played five WAFL games, building with each week to the point where he has earned a recall and will play his 21st senior match. His inclusion is the feel-good story of round 24. Ruckman Matt Flynn, Trew and first-year forward Loch Rawlinson have been named as emergencies. Rawlinson travelled with the team which made its way to Geelong via Melbourne.
Bazzo only returned to the field on July 13 and has played the past five WAFL games for the Eagles but interim coach Jarrad Schofield backed the young defender. “It’s a good story for him and the football club. He’s come from a long way back, missed a large portion of the front half of the season, put in a good block of football over the past four or five weeks,” he said. “With not having Gov there we need that extra tall and he’s definitely earned his spot. And we’re excited to see how he goes and how he finishes off the season because it really catapults him into the off-season and into our pre-season and then for season 2025.”
Schofield praised Bazzo’s resilience after a horror 18 months that included the tragic death of his mother in January of last year. “He’s had great support around him from the football club and I know externally he has as well,” Schofield said. “His mental resilience just shows a lot about his character. To just keep pushing forward and we want to see him bear the fruits of that in the future.”
West Coast head to GMHBA Stadium where they haven’t won since 2006, losing their past nine clashes at the venue. Schofield said the statistics showed the Cats were a different team at the venue. “It’s a narrow ground, even compared to down in Hobart it’s about 15 to 20m narrower. So you’ve got to respect that,” Schofield said. “The contest is important, clearances are super important and that’s where we fell short last week, in and around the stoppage,” he said. “We knew that was going to be a challenge against Carlton … and this week’s no different. We’ve got to make sure we get field position from our clearance and contest wins. On a narrow ground you can defend a little bit easier, there’s a little bit more room for errors if there are any errors but we’ve got to make sure we aim up in that area.”
Saturday's game between Geelong and West Coast is scheduled to start at 1:45pm local time on August 24. The game will be played at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong. This match, and every match across the home-and-away season, will be available for live streaming and replay on Kayo Sports. Per bookmaker Sportsbet, Geelong is the heavy $1.04 favourite to win this match, while West Coast is the underdog at $10.50. Geelong have won the last three meetings between the sides.
