Geelong Cats · 8 notes
Toby Conway has "had a bit of injuries the last couple of years," Geelong's Andrew Mackie said, and the club would love him to get a good run. Mackie backed Rowan Marshall and 21-year-old Mitchell Edwards as a two-ruck pairing: "5 on the bench really helps that."
Alex Dodson will be "looking to take a step up" with Rowan Marshall gone to Geelong. Lenny Hayes said Marshall was "keen to hold down that number 1 ruck mantle" at St Kilda rather than share with Tom De Koning. Geelong "didn't want to part with" Sam De Koning, Hayes said.
Geelong tried to get a future pick back from St Kilda in the Rowan Marshall deal, but it was too compelling to hold out, list boss Andrew Mackie said. With Marshall and Mark Blicavs in the ruck, "it probably allows Shannon Neale to just stay at home more as a forward."
Matt Rowell is a 2027 free agency target for Geelong, Andrew Mackie said – "one of a few." How the Rowan Marshall and Jordan Ridley deals were done leaves the Cats "well positioned" for free agents, he said. Marshall, on a three-year deal, may have "6 or 7 years of footy left."
Geelong wanted to keep pick 14 but gave it up to land Rowan Marshall, leaving no early pick. "Out of respect to him, we just wanted to get him in," Andrew Mackie said. He called it a great thing for the club that Toby Greene, Jordan Ridley and Marshall "want to come."
St Kilda were "really hell-bent" on a first-round pick for Rowan Marshall, Lenny Hayes said. Paying a future first for Brisbane's Sam Marshall was partly about Tasmania's entry compromising next year's draft: "that first-round draft pick will get pushed out."
St Kilda have completed the Rowan Marshall trade with Geelong, done early to give him comfort. "We spoke to him about dealing in good faith, but we wanted something fair in return. We feel like we got that," Lenny Hayes said. With Sam Marshall in, "that's us done."
Rowan Marshall is "contracted for next year," Lenny Hayes said, and nothing Geelong has offered "has probably really satisfied us", though he thinks a deal can get done. If he goes, St Kilda may need another backup ruck to Tom De Koning despite "high hopes" for Alex Dodson.