GEELONG coach Dan Lowther was aware of the murmurs, but he backed in the club’s development and retention policy. Essendon was entering the AFL Women’s competition and had signed on Carlton star Madison Prespakis among a host of experienced players from across the league.

Outside the four walls of the Cattery, natural curiosity turned to speculation about Prespakis’ younger sister, Georgie, and whether or not she too would follow her sibling to Tullamarine and don the sash. It was talk that had begun from before her name had even been read out at the AFLW Draft.

Lowther remembers the talk and said while the thought crossed his mind, the Cats were never going to pick anyone else with the first Victorian pick in the 2021 AFLW Draft.

“Drafting her was a no-brainer for us,” Lowther said. “She was the player that we could see the potential in the way she plays the game and obviously with her sister in Melbourne at the time at Carlton, there’s always that lingering question about I wonder what the desire to be with your sibling is going to be, will it take her to Melbourne, or would we get Maddy maybe? That was always a question maybe.:

Since then, Prespakis has re-signed twice and is entering her third season with the blue and white hoops having finished equal sixth in the league best and fairest last season.

“She’s integral of the direction we’re trying to take as a whole program,” Lowther said. “I think the way she’s adapted to our program, forged really strong relationships with teammates and coaching staff.

“I think she just loves the place, which speaks volumes for the club and the program. I’m comfortable with the fact that she’s going to be a Geelong player for a long time and hopefully again, retention’s a big part of the AFLW.”

Lowther said the club was fortunate not to lose many players to expansion clubs, which he put down to the fact the Cats were a “middle tier” club. One that was not heavily poached, but also one that showed enough to the playing group that the future was bright.

“We’ve come out on the other side in a really strong place retaining out players so every indication from Georgie is she’s really loving her time at the club and she’s sees where the club is going as a directional piece, so I’m comfortable Georgie’s going to be at the club for a long time,” Lowther said.

“But I did think about it, what if she went to Essendon? But she was very outright that she was extremely happy at Geelong. Sometimes breaking away where you’ve grown up and you’re slightly away from the rat race what she’d be used to would be a nice buffer for your lifestyle. I think she gets a bit of both at Geelong.”

Even outside of Prespakis, Geelong has largely been able to retain its list over the past few seasons. While other teams have lost quality players, clubs such as the Cats and Melbourne have been able to retain the majority of their playing groups. Lowther said that was a bonus but he had no intention of assuming that retention meant automatic success.

“I’m looking at the other clubs what the impact might be but the focus is on not getting too complacent for us,” Lowther said. “We’re very lucky like Melbourne to retain our list so we’ve got that consistency piece whereas the other clubs might alter and change and might take a bit of time to gel and connect, but we’ve got that connection still which is a positive.”

Lowther said while he naturally kept a close eye on the rest of the competition and how his team could one-up the opposition, he said the club had to look out for numero uno first.

“If the consistency and effort aren’t there, then where you finished last season is irrelevant,” he said. “It’s the old cliche, but I think that consistency piece for us has been a bonus to retain. But I have got an eye out for what it might look like for opposition and what they might need to do, but there’s still a question mark on how it’s going to unfold, so look after your own backyard I think is the right way to approach it.”