GEELONG is confident that a host of the club's premiership veterans including goalkicking forward Tom Hawkins, Irish defender Zach Tuohy and ruckman Rhys Stanley will go around again in season 2024.
The trio are among a handful of Cats that were due to come out of contract at the end of this year, but they all remain important parts of the club's future and should play on into next season.
As reported by AFL.com.au earlier this month, Tuohy has agreed to a one-year extension to play on for a 15th season.
Hawkins kicked 49 goals in another prolific campaign this year, Tuohy was a mainstay in a number of roles, while Stanley is viewed as a pivotal figure at the club and has played a big role in the development of young ruck Toby Conway.
Speaking on AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable earlier this week, Geelong's new general manager of football Andrew Mackie said it should result in all three players lacing up the boots again next season.
"It's looking really good for them," Mackie said.
"It's just a matter of working through it. Those guys, individually, have been away and we've had some things to do from our end. But they're looking like they'll keep going next year, which is really exciting.
"Those guys are still valuable to us and we're looking forward to what they can be. For the most part, coming off the back of 2023, it's a really exciting time for a lot of the older guys and younger ones too. They've been given a lot of opportunity this year through lots of reasons, availability was a bit low throughout the year.
"For our guys to go away and freshen up, obviously we finished a bit earlier than we would have liked, but there's some opportunity in that going forward to reset and recalibrate and really pop out the other end refreshed and ready to go."