Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said the club had finalised all major contracts for 2009 but might add to its coaching staff for next season, with development high on the agenda.
Cook confirmed that recently retired Collingwood skipper Scott Burns had already been sounded out for a possible role.
“The coaching panel who interviewed him were very impressed,” Cook said.
“Scotty, I think, is just contemplating his own future [and] where he’s going.
“So I’m not sure where it all is at the moment but he was very, very impressive apparently.”
Cook believes Geelong – along with several clubs – will zero in on development in coming seasons, given impending draft restrictions.
And that could mean employing more staff to achieve greater results with younger players.
Asked if the Cats were looking at bringing in more assistant coaches, Cook replied: “Well if we do, it’ll be in that development area. And … it’s very likely that we will be doing that.
“Not so much at the top end but at the bottom end, so we can create the depth that we need over the years to come.”
With new franchise GC17 set to enter the AFL competition in 2011 and Western Sydney likely to follow, all clubs are aware their chances of securing prime draft talent will be limited.
Cook doubted whether the Cats would be active during the upcoming trade period, saying many would question the quality of late picks in future drafts over the talent they already possessed on their lists.
“If you cut deep, are you actually getting better players in the draft in the future years which may not be as good as the people you’ve got?” he said.
“And so I think there’s got to be a heavy emphasis now, particularly at our club, on that development area of the kids, our bottom 15 players.
“Whether we call it an academy or an institute … [ we will have] more coaches looking at that level.
“We’ll just have to keep our kids longer on lists and see if we can develop them over time.”
