It wasn’t quite a declaration of commitment from Max Holmes, but the Geelong young gun has given an early indication he sees his future at GMHBA Stadium beyond 2024.
Facing the media ahead of the Cats’ Labour Day open training session, the topic, unsurprisingly, turned to the 21-year-old’s contract status.
When asked if he sees himself in the Hoops long-term, Holmes replied, “Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, yeah, yeah”.
“We’ve just got to sort it out, I guess.
“It’s up to ‘Mack’ (Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie) and my manager to sort it out.
“Then, when they’re happy with it, I’ll be happy with it, I guess”.
Holmes, the Cats’ first pick in the 2020 National Draft, has played 51 games in his opening three seasons, including 21 of a possible 23 last year.
He says he understands the speculation will continue until he puts pen to paper.
“I don’t really know much about what’s going on; I just let my manager take the reins and I stick to playing footy, and I’m happy with that,” Holmes said.
“At this stage, I’m more worried about Round 1 than my contract.
“I’m still contracted for this year, so I’m just here to play footy, and I’ll let my manager do the rest.”
Speculation also surrounds where Holmes will line up against St Kilda as Geelong marks the official opening of the Joel Selwood Stand to start the new season.
Having spent most of his first three seasons on a wing with occasional midfield minutes, Holmes has been trialled at half-back in match simulation and at stages of the Cats’ pre-season hitouts against Carlton and Essendon.
“It’s getting thrown around a bit,” he said.
“I’m on a need-to-know basis at the moment, so I just get told where I’m playing, and I just go do it.
“Probably a little bit at half-back at the moment, but it’s probably subject to change throughout the year.”
Holmes says the standing room in the new stand, which will lift capacity to 40,000 for the first time since the 1980s, has been a popular topic of conversation amongst Geelong’s players.
“I’m really excited about it; I hope it gets a bit crazy up there,” he said.
“We were talking about it last week, (and) we were like, ‘God if we kick a very clutch goal out in that pocket, it would be bloody hectic’.
“We were saying, ‘What would you do?’ and I was saying, ‘I’d jump up on the railing and celebrate’.
“I’m really excited to see what it’s like.
“I think the whole stand looks really cool, but that bit, especially, is pretty awesome.”
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