It's not always as simple as that though. Selwood, Smith, Tuohy and Bews either retired or not best 22. Bruhn, O.Henry, Bowes and maybe Dempsey/Mannagh instead. Conway and Neale in a better position to cover for Stanley and Hawkins.Yes, but in 2022 all of those 10 x 30+ players were there … and unsurprisingly 2-years younger. For that reason I think it’s optimistic to think you’ll get a good injury run from enough of the golden oldies to contend in a meaningful way. If you do get 20+ games out of 8-9 of them then I think you can be a flag contender.
Just as if Richmond can get 20+ out of Nank, Lynch, Prestia and Martin we will be right in the mix of finals then who knows… I just don’t think it will happen.
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Not to mention that the club had a lot of collision or freak injuries including quite a few to sub 30 year olds in 2023. Stengle, De Koning, both Henry's, Clark, Bowes had issues early on. Stanley had his eye hanging off it's socket. The Rohan/Cameron car crash vs Melbourne. Even our VFL players first in line for a shot were having a bad run.
There's not really a lot to suggest back to back worst Geelong injury lists this century. I'll be sure to acknowledge you if it does happen though.