Geelong will explore "all sorts of different ways" to potentially jump back into the first two rounds of this year's AFL Draft order after trading their earliest pair of picks during the trade period.
The Cats parted with Picks 17 and 38 in a trade for Bailey Smith a week ago, with the Kardinia Park club also acquiring Pick 45 in the four-club exchange. That selection is currently Geelong's first pick, followed by selections 57 and 75.
The trade for Smith has placed the Cats with the second latest opening pick, standing in front of only Collingwood in the queue, who start their draft at Pick 52.
The talent-rich pool of prospects on offer has several sides weighing up how they can strengthen their spot in the draft order, with Geelong no exception given their short draft hand and current access to their entire suite of 2025 picks.
Using their future first or second round selection could see the Cats move back into the top 40 of this year's draft, with football boss Andrew Mackie outlining the idea of potentially moving back into this year's draft by using their 2025 picks.
"Our recruiters do a power of work. It's peaking in that season now, the guys are covering off a lot of interviews," Mackie told the club's media arm.
"I'm looking forward to that information coming back and getting really pointy on where they see the selections and players falling in, and what we need to do from a list management point of view.ย We'll be tying all of those conversations in.
"There's windows for us to pick trade, so we'll look at all sorts of different ways. Potentially we move some future picks into this year, we're open-minded to what that looks like.
"That'd be guided by where (head recruiter) Stephen Wells and his team see the draft board forming. We'll work through what that looks like over the next month."
Clubs can agree to pick swap deals in the lead-up to the National Draft, which will commence on November 20, with those deals confirmed on the night of the count.
Geelong have several list spots to fill over the next month, one of which will go to former Carlton forward Jack Martin when delisted free agency opens on November 1.
The Cats have also been linked to Irish talent Cillian Burke this off-season, with the Gaelic star a chance to land a category B rookie contract with Geelong.
The club cut basketball talent Joe Furphy this week to open up a Category B spot, bringing their tally of departed players to 10 since the end of the 2024 season.
