Geelong will have at least 11 changes to their team that brought them glory in the 2022 Grand Final against Sydney, but how did they make the changes to make yet another grand final?
Basing the selections on the preliminary final team against Hawthorn, The Sporting News looks at the differences from Geelong's 2022 premiership team to the 2025 team competing against Brisbane on the weekend.
The Cats will still have 11 players from their 2022 winning team, with Sam De Koning, Jack Henry, Mark Blivcas, Mark O'Connor, Brad Close, Jeremy Cameron, Tyson Stengle, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Atkins, Gryan Miers and Zach Guthrie all expected to play in the grand final.
However, the courageous captain from that team, Joel Selwood, announced his retirement after their 2022 win, while Issac Smith (2023), Tom Hawkins and Zach Touhy (both 2024) announced their retirements in the years to follow, with Gary Rohan and Brandan Parfitt both delisted in 2024.
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Tom Stewart will miss this year through concussion, while Rhys Stanley, Cameron Guthrie, Mitch Duncan, Jed Bews and Jake Kolodjashnij are still at the club but weren't in the Cats' 2025 preliminary final team, although one may come in to replace Stewart.
Looking at the ins, Max Holmes, who was injured in the 2022 preliminary final team, will get his shot at redemption, while forward Shannon Neale and wingman Oliver Dempsey were on the list in 2022 but have now cemented their spot in the side.
Irishman Oisin Mullin was meant to join the Cats before the 2022 season but decided against it to join for the 2023 season and will hope to join a growing list of Irishmen to win a premiership in the AFL.
The Cats have done some sharp recruiting in the draft, picking up Jhye Clarke with pick 8 in the 2022 national draft, and then Connor O'Sullivan (#11), Shaun Mannagh (#36) and Lawson Humphries (#63) all in the 2023 national draft.
The Cats traded their 2023 third-round pick to Gold Coast for Jack Bowes and pick 7 in 2022 and traded essentially pick 17 to Western Bulldogs for Bailey Smith in the 2024 trade period, whilst signing Jack Martin as a delisted free agent at the start of this year.
Geelong missed finals in 2023 and lost a close preliminary final to Brisbane last year but have continued to build a strong list that sees them as the favourite heading into this weekend.
Regardless of the result on the weekend, there's no doubt the Cats are good at building strong teams, only missing finals twice in Chris Scott's 15 years at the club as coach.