His club is subject to an AFL audit of third-party deals, but Geelong CEO Steve Hocking isn’t getting too caught up in all the fuss.
It was revealed earlier this month that the Cats were to come under the microscope, with reports that arrangements between players and coach Chris Scott with external companies had piqued the AFL’s interest.
Hocking was speaking at Ford’s Geelong Research and Development Centre as the club and the car maker prepare to celebrate their 100-year partnership when the Cats host Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night.
“All clubs are reviewed and that’s just ongoing as far as any football club,” Hocking said.
“So not a concern from our point of view.
“As the AFL have said, it won’t be commenting publicly, basically, because it goes on regularly across all clubs.”
AFL captain Patrick Dangerfield joined Hocking, AFLW captain Meghan McDonald, and Ford Australia CEO Andrew Birkic as the Cats showed off the jumper they will wear to commemorate the centenary of the partnership.
Dangerfield was still bearing the scars from a head clash during Saturday night’s loss to the Brisbane Lions.
The veteran skipper, who turns 35 on Saturday, was split open above his left eye during the last quarter of the nine-point defeat.
Geelong led by as much as 32 points late in the second term but were held scoreless in a quarter for the first time since Round 13, 2010 in the third stanza.
“It was sort of a flip script from Round (2), where we had a poor first half and then finished strongly,” Dangerfield said.
“So, we need to bookend both those games and then it’s a bit more of a complete performance.
“There was some really good elements.
“But, clearly, there’s some pieces we need to improve, and that was the third quarter and ability just to hang in there a bit tighter and not be scored at as easily.”
Dangerfield is hopeful of Geelong welcoming back vice-captain Tom Stewart after the knee injury that ended his night against St Kilda early the previous week forced him to be a late withdrawal against the Lions.
“I’ll walk him out with crutches on if I need to,” Dangerfield joked about Stewart’s chances of playing Melbourne.
“You can’t replace a Tom Stewart. You can manufacture the role, but he’s an incredible player, one of the best defenders in the game.
“So, we’re really hopeful he’ll be back.”
However, Dangerfield believes Stewart’s absence from the backline wasn’t a determining factor in the contest.
“It’s also team defence and how you structure. And I think our defence actually played quite well.
“It was probably further up the field that we need to improve the area of our game, particularly in the third.
“So, we’ll go to work on that tomorrow and there’s a bit to review.
“But sometimes it’s at the margins. It’s bouncing balls, (and) the ability to neutralise a contest and create another stoppage.
“And just those little idiosyncrasies we weren’t able to really nail.”
