Geelong have shot down a move for troubled ex-North Melbourne youngster Tarryn Thomas, with the exiled midfielder not on the Cats' radar this year.
Geelong has previously been linked to Thomas since the 24-year-old was handed an 18-game ban by the AFL and simultaneously sacked by the Roos after a series of seriously concerning behaviour towards women.
Cats coach Chris Scott said the club has an "open-minded" approach to its list management policy when questioned on Thomas in April, with Scott not ruling out a move for the 69-gamer.
Thomas' name was again in the headlines this week after North Melbourne CEO Jennifer Watt revealed that the club was "not able to meaningfully change" the young star, while the ex-Roo is reportedly the subject of a fresh police investigation.
When probed on the club's level of interest in Thomas byย 3AW,ย Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie said the club did not have the Tasmanian on its radar.
"We haven't had any discussions around him," Mackie said.
"I think there's too much other good stuff going on in our game which we should be focusing on. I understand the question but it's not something that's on our radar.
"We're just focussing on what we need to do."
The Cats are expected to be among the busier clubs in the player movement space this year, with the Kardinia Park club tied to Western Bulldogs young gun Bailey Smith.
The potential signature of Smith would add to the Cats' crop of emerging midfield talent, with Mackie looking to build a contending list for the years to come after a low 2023 campaign.
Geelong enjoyed a successful off-season in the wake of its 2022 premiership run, securing former first-round selections Jack Bowes, Tanner Bruhn and Ollie Henry before drafting local gun Jhye Clark with Pick 8.
The club's list planning is keeping one eye on the incoming arrival of the AFL's 19th club, Tasmania, which is expected to join the competition for the 2028 season.
Geelong have been planning to be in a place of premiership contention by the time the Devils join the AFL for a few years now, Mackie confirmed.
"It has been for a little bit. You look back to the trade period at the end of our grand final... we had that in mind," the three-time premiership player said.
"We brought in Jack Bowes, Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Henry and were able to get Jhye Clark in the draft.
"We're really aware of where we need our age demographic and footy performance to be come the time Tassie are coming in.
"It's getting real now, isn't it? It seems like there's a groundswell of support. We've just got to be really well prepared.
"It's not just the on-field playing stuff, we've got to be well set up off-field. Footy department, coaching staff, high performance. It's a wide-range thing.
"We have ongoing conversations about it, looking around corners and an eye on the future. It's something you've got to keep doing.
"We've been a couple of years into planning around Tassie."
At the time of writing, Geelong hold Picks 17, 37, 55 and 73 for this year's National Draft.
