UP to thirty “tweaks” have been put in place following what CEO Brian Cook has labelled a “health check” of Geelong’s football department.
Cook and football boss Simon Lloyd undertook a wide-ranging analysis following the Cats’ disappointing end to the 2018 season at the hands of Melbourne in an elimination final.
“No major or dramatic changes; a lot of the issues we dealt with were just small tweaks, really small tweaks,” Cook said following Wednesday night’s Annual General Meeting.
“We had a look at every area; whether it was welfare or development, recruiting.
“And maybe we went a bit harder than we have in previous year’s end-0f-season reviews. But, at the end of the day, I think there’s been at least 20 or 30 tweaks made.”
“They’re more around the soft issues of footy, not necessarily the strategic, tactical stuff.
“I think if people went out and watched training now they’d notice the increase in intensity, they’d notice a greater commitment.
“There’s a lot of things occurring from the smaller tweaks.”
“I call it the “whiplash effect”; you make a small movement in the whip, and you get a hell of an outcome at the end of the whip.”
Cook also confirmed coach Chris Scott had made a conscious effort to strengthen his relationship with the club’s younger players.
“He’s doing that purposefully, it’s a matter of rebalancing his energies and where he’s been spending them,” Cook said.
“He’s made that decision on his own, and I think it’s a good decision.
“What’s happened in footy in the last ten years or so is that the senior coach used to have 45 direct reports to players, now he has ten direct reports, and they’re assistant coaches.
“I think this is an issue throughout the industry, what is the role of the coach with players now? Does he have a personal and professional relationship with them or does he leave that up to the assistant coaches?
“We had to talk through all of that and did a little bit of role clarity between all of the coaches.”
However, Cook says Scott’s relationship wasn’t raised as a major concern by the younger group.
“I spoke to some of the younger guys; it wasn’t the major issue with the younger players. They don’t necessarily expect that,” he said.
“It seems a lot of the younger guys are more understanding; their direct coach is the assistant coaches.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
