TWO of the competition's key pillars are the salary cap and draft in a bid to have club parity.

Top teams are meant to find it difficult to stay there and bottom teams are given hope that one day they will climb the ladder.



We have seen one of the greatest teams of all time, the Brisbane Lions, succumb to the system ... but not the Cats.



How? There are five reasons.



LEADERSHIP

AS much as we mull over statistics every week and get absorbed by them, the key to a successful club is still people.



Clearly, one of the greatest strengths of the Cats is the leadership in the key roles throughout their organisation.



The perception of the Geelong Football Club is they are a professional, disciplined an exceptionally well-run outfit.



That leadership extends to their player group and they have an incredible senior core that sets standards both on and off the field.



There is clear direction for young players to follow at the Geelong football club. This is something many clubs simply do not have.



RECRUITING



GEELONG recruiting manager Stephen Wells has done an exceptional job.



In an increasingly difficult area, where the gap between U18 football and senior AFL football is only getting larger, Wells has an incredible knack for picking talent.



The common theme for Wells seems to be to pick smart, hard footballers. Whilst many clubs try to turn athletes into footballers, Geelong seem to want to take footballers and train them for the demands of the modern game.



DEVELOPMENT

AS good as the recruiting has been, Geelong's ability to develop the young players has been second to none.



The fact that the Cats were the first team to have a stand-alone VFL seconds side was and is a significant advantage.



The ability to pick young players and play them where and for how long the coach's desire can be vastly different to many clubs that are dictated to by their independent partners.



There is no doubt that this has fast tracked the development of players such as Duncan, Christensen, and Motlop.



The Geelong coach's have also done a terrific job in introducing young players while they still have had many veterans to teach them.



There has certainly not been the pressure on the Geelong youngsters that we have seen on the Suns and Giants early picks.



They have not had to carry a significant load when coming into the team and have just been asked to play a role within the team structure.



COACHING

"BOMBER" Thompson was an exceptional coach and undoubtedly still has a significant impact on the Geelong Football Club.



As a dual premiership coach, he demanded his players were hard and uncompromising, and this is a standard that still exists today.



However, the change of coach probably came at the right time. And I am sure Bomber was reading some signs and made a selfless decision.



While Chris Scott has not changed things dramatically, the change of coach itself has probably refreshed the entire playing list.



In fact, Scott's greatest strength has been his ability to respect everything that came before him.



From day one, he was clear that he had to fit in to a very good football club. His game plan change has been subtle and smart, taking everything that was good from Bomber and tweaking some of the weaknesses.



He has proven to be an exceptional coach in his own right.



COMPETITIVENESS

THERE seems to be an innate competitive drive from all who work at Geelong.



They simply refuse to buckle to the system and strive for perfection in everything that they do.



If there is one thing that you look for in an employee of a football club and one thing that will drive success, it is the passion and will to compete.

