Geelong are often a big watch come draft night, and 2025 will be no exception as the Cats currently hold a first-round selection and have a pair of promising members of their Next Generation Academy.
Falcons pair Jesse Mellor and Ben Rongdit have both shown promise over the past 12 months, with the latter having a strong bottom-age campaign before suffering an ACL injury this year.
Mellow, a crafty medium-sized forward, had arguably his best game of the U18s National Championships for Vic Country last week, booting three goals from 15 disposals and five marks in a two-goal win over the Allies.
Assessing Geelong's potential draft plans for this year, Craft of the Draft's Jonty Ralphsmith lauded the options the Cats have in being tied to both Mellor and Rongdit.
"Their club-tied talent, Jesse Mellor, went pretty well for Vic Country on the weekend, kicked the three goals," Ralphsmith said on this week's episode.
"He's a medium forward who has really announced himself this year and is coming up draft boards quite nicely.
"Then there's Ben Rongdit, who unfortunately has done his ACL, but is a raw athletic defender who might go late in the draft or be a category B option for the Cats."
The Cats could look at a rebounding backman, some outside run or a tall forward given their current list needs, with Rongdit potentially helping their plans.
Murray Bushrangers tall attacker Liam Hetherton or Oakleigh Chargers ruck-forward hybrid Louis Emmett are names for the Cats to consider if they do want to bolster their key forward stocks.
"Ben Rondit would be a nice fit. I think these small-medium half-back flankers or wing options to get some run out of that backline," Craft of the Draft host Mitch Keating said of the Cats' potential list needs.
"We saw what they were able to do with Lawson Humphries a couple of years ago, plucking him out of the WAFL reserves.
"Knowing Stephen Wells and his team, they'll do something similar with who is available at the end of this year.
"Small defenders, outside run and maybe a tall forward? They haven't had as much luck with tall forwards at the draft as they would've hoped in years gone by.
"With the draft hand they've got, they've got a first-round pick... Maybe they start with a forward option if there's one there.
"Do they fancy a Louis Emmett type? Get that Neale-Emmett balance. Outside of a forward-ruck combination, I think Liam Hetherton could be one. They won't have Jeremy Cameron forever.
"He might be one on their radar as a tall forward option."
Ralphsmith backed the concept of the Cats assessing the half-back pool of prospects, with a host of options potentially in their sights.
South Australian trio Jett Dahlitz, Luke Candy and Cameron Nairn could all be fitting prospects for Geelong, as could Western Australia's Jacob Farrow.
"I think a Luke Cady, a Jett Dahlitz - a couple of South Australians who really showed their form. They'd be a couple I'd look at," Ralphsmith added.
"Jacob Farrow is in that mix as well, and I think Cam Nairn probably plays his career as that distributing, long-kicking sort of defender.
"Someone like that to set the game up and allow the Bailey Smiths and Max Holmes to play their run and gun style."
You can watch the full episode of Craft of the Draft's breakdown of Geelong's potential draft plans below, or watch this week's full episode on Zero Hanger's YouTube channel.
