This weekend, and probably over the next few days still to come, so much has and will be said about Geelong's past.

The club's decision to part ways with three of their premiership heroes will go down as a key moment in the evolution between the core group of players which built the Cats' previous successful era, and the one trusted to start building the next.

But come Wednesday's Rising Star award ceremony, three younger Cats will receive recognition for the impact they have had on the club so early in their careers.

The names Darcy Lang, Cory Gregson and Jackson Thurlow may never replace Steve Johnson, James Kelly and Mathew Stokes. But they do hope to form part of a wider group with ambitions of continuing the winning culture that players like Kelly, Johnson, Stokes helped create – along with current teammates like Jimmy Bartel, Corey Enright, Tom Hawkins, Joel Selwood, Harry Taylor, Tom Lonergan and Andrew Mackie.

"They are not going to be here forever, so we are going to have to learn to lift to their standards when they've all left," Lang said.

"There is going to have to be a few young leaders stand up in the next few years to keep us on the right path and I think everyone is excited to be in that group."

Lang wants to be one of those leaders in the future, and this year has shown why he is entitled to think so, playing every game as a versatile impact player.

Along with Gregson, the lively forward pocket with a gymnastics background, and Thurlow, who suffered a lacerated kidney during pre-season but battled back to play 18 games as a defender, the Cats have produced three nominees for the Rising Star award.

It is the not the first time Geelong have been so well represented for the award that recognises the best young players in the game. Mitch Duncan, Daniel Menzel and Allen Christensen did likewise in 2011.

Asked what it is about the club that allows draftees to fast-track their development so quickly, Lang said it was actually veteran players like Johnson, Kelly and Stokes who play a major role.

"You want to earn their respect as quickly as possible, that's the main part of it," the 19-year-old from Colac said.

"You can tell straight away, as soon as you train with them, why they have been so good for so long.

"They've helped us improve out of sight - myself, Jacko [Thurlow] and Gregers [Gregson]. You know what is expected of you the day you walk in."

Lang said it was sad to see the star trio go.

"We would love to keep them all," he said, speaking several days before the fitting send off against Adelaide on Saturday.

But he also understood the club needed to move on. And by retaining the likes of Bartel, Mackie, Lonergan and possibly Enright, Lang thinks the Cats have struck a good balance between the old and young.

More importantly, he said next year could be a pivotal one in the team's transformation, with a cluster of players in the prime 24 to 27 age bracket returning from injury combined with the improvement of players like Nakia Cockatoo.

Geelong is also expected to be an active participant in what could be an explosive trade and free agency period – with Patrick Dangerfield, Lachie Henderson and Scott Selwood (all of whom fit the desired age profile) reportedly on the recruiting radar.

"We've had a lot of injuries this year with Rhys Stanley, Daniel Menzel and Nathan Vardy, so we've got a lot of blokes around that age that haven't played together a lot, plus some younger guys coming through.

"So if we can get everyone back on the track and playing together, it could be exciting."