Are Geelong the Melbourne Storm of the AFL?

[Black Haze]

I think so, as both clubs are well run from top to bottom and have been for a long time.

Craig Bellamy and Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

have win rates of around 70% and make finals year in, year out. Both coaches have multiple premierships and are in the box seat to win more.

Melbourne have only missed finals once in 20 years, which was in 2010. They only missed finals that year because they got sanctioned for rorting the salary cap and couldn't play for premiership points.

Geelong have only missed finals twice since 2007, and it was only because they had a freakishly bad run with injuries in both 2015 and 2023.

In the NRL, big clubs such as St George Illawarra and South Sydney get talked up every year only to disappoint, while Melbourne quietly go about their business despite people writing them off and expecting them to slide.

Similar to the AFL, where big clubs such as Carlton and Essendon get talked up every year only to disappoint, while Geelong quietly go about their business despite people writing them off and expecting them to slide.

Do you agree that Geelong are the Melbourne Storm of the AFL?

 

[SC_Power]

Whilst I get your drift, I’d suggest any equivalency with the Storm’s 2007-9 salary cap breaches might raise the ire of Cats fans around here.

Leaving that aside,
Being an expansion team, maybe the Swans and Longmire is a better match?

 

[PhatBoy]

Swans deserve to be in that convo too.

The Storm are a good match though in HOW they do it given that they are famous for taking players from other teams who are often under utilised or very much just role players and become crucial components to what they do. The Storm recycle players better than any sporting organisation I’ve ever seen and it is absolutely freakish. I’m sick to death of them as a Roosters fan who’s side simply can’t seem to beat them in the last 4 years, and as someone who’s ’second team’ is the Panthers and as such the Storm perpetually represent their biggest obstacle (my partner is a panthers tragic so if the chooks can’t win I’m on their bandwagon) but geez it’s hard not to respect what they do

 

[Drought Break]

Are you suggesting that Geelong maybe running 2x seperate book keeping records and payments to retain and bring in players under the counter like the Melbourne storm did?

Amazing that the big star players from the storm had no idea why boats were turning up in there driveways and there bank accounts were somehow doubling

 

[Handsuper47]

no, they are the Geelong Cats of the AFL

 

[PhatBoy]

Are you suggesting that Geelong maybe running 2x seperate book keeping records and payments to retain and bring in players under the counter like the Melbourne storm did?

Amazing that the big star players from the storm had no idea why boats were turning up in there driveways and there bank accounts were somehow doubling

It was allegedly only one of them who got a boat, and the fact is that across a player group of 25, it would only take an average of $40k to tip a club a million bucks over the cap. While I’m extremely doubtful it was spread that evenly, I find it highly doubtful that players at any club ever sit around comparing what each of them are getting paid: when you find a club that does, you are rarely going to find that they are playing well and with any degree of harmony as the Storm were doing at the time.

Even as a non-fan of them, I always felt somewhat sorry for them to a very small degree anyway in that they had to pay overs for every single player they ever signed at that point as playing for them wasn’t nearly as fashionable as it has become since. None of the stars they had were poached - they were all developed

 

[Cmarsh]

Way too many NRL references for the AFL board.

 

[Cleansweep17]

Yes been up and about for a long time without achieving a dynasty

 

[STPer18]

Melbourne Storm wish they were dynastic Geelong.

 

[mikey127]

If you're a Geelong and a Storm fan you've been to at least a prelim 18 of the last 19 years

 

[ThatsjustDappa]

Yes, identical.

 

[Chaisa]

Pretty sure Geelong haven't cheated the cap.

 

[Rotayjay]

Like the Melbourne Storm, are they about to have premierships stripped due to salary cap cheating?