Geelong launched its 2015 season on Friday night in what was very much a family affair, and fittingly welcomed a cherished son back to the fold when Garry Hocking returned to Simonds Stadium to confer hall of fame legend status on former teammate Matthew Scarlett.
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Former champion full-back Scarlett joins Hocking and 21 other Geelong greats in the Cats' most esteemed group, with Port Adelaide assistant coach Hocking's appearance on stage a welcome pointer to the healing of a distant relationship with the club for whom he played 274 games over 15 seasons.
Hocking declined to comment on Friday, but in a 2013 interview with Fairfax Media before Port met the Cats in a semi-final he admitted he'd had a "poor transition" away from Geelong after he was forced into retirement in 2001, but had been encouraged to put any ill feeling behind him by wife Melina.
Rather than the big-ticket, function-centre affair favoured by AFL clubs, Geelong chose to present its 2015 list with their guernseys on its home ground in front of grandstands filled with supporters of all ages. They saw Scarlett lauded by former teammates Corey Enright and Max Rooke, and in a video tribute from legendary basketball coach Pat Riley that was a pleasant surprise for the NBA tragic.
The fans were thanked by Cats' president Colin Carter for their support of "a truly remarkable football team", which Carter said had established a record not even the great Collingwood teams of the 1930s, Melbourne of the '50s or Hawthorn in the '80s could boast by winning 80 per cent of games over the past 10 years.
Carter noted wryly that Geelong were again being written off as a contender in 2015, just as they have been every pre-season since 2010.
"When I ask our coaches how they see the coming season and I see their quiet smile – as I do – I feel pretty good," Carter said. "When I bump into Matthew Scarlett on his way home after spending time with our young players, and he tells me that he thinks that our new crop of youngsters might turn out to be one of (recruiter) Stephen Wells' better classes, I feel pretty good."
Supporting such optimism, the Cats said on Friday that draftees Nakia Cockatoo and Cory Gregson have already enjoyed their first contract extensions before playing even their first games, with the 18-year-olds locked in until the end of 2017.
Carter concluded by congratulating Scarlett and thanking "that other great legend Garry Hocking, for being with us tonight. Guys, your contributions to our club have been so great, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
