The Stinear effect: The stat changing Geelong in 2026

Source : ABC NEWS

The biggest coup of the off-season wasn’t Anne Hatchard to Gold Coast, Taylor Smith to Sydney, or Eden Zanker to Fremantle. 

It was premiership coach Mick Stinear’s shift away from Melbourne to take the reins at Geelong.

He became the first coach to be poached by another club, leaving his position to take up another, and just the third coach to ply their trade at a second club.

The reasons behind Geelong’s desperation to appoint Stinear have been immediately evident. Outside of a big round one loss to two-time reigning premier North Melbourne, the Cats have found their feet in a new style.

And although there have been early challenges on the injury front — the club has been forced to name top up players in its extended squad already this year — the system itself has proved sound.

Stinear’s signature stat

Teams coached by Stinear have one thing in common: Goal Assists are a priority. Sharing the ball neatly around the attacking arc to generate the highest percentage opportunity to score has always been fundamental to how his teams work, and that has already become a feature of Geelong in 2026.

Leading Melbourne for the first 10 seasons of its life in the AFLW, the Demons sat in the top two for goal assists in four of the five seasons from 2022 S6 onward. The one outlier was 2024, where the club was desperately stretched due to an onslaught of injury.

This year the Cats average 7.8 goal assists — sitting second in the league behind only North Melbourne — and as a result, a host of other key scoring statistics have improved dramatically.

Aishling Moloney leads the way for the stat, with 1.6 per game, while having also kicked seven goals in the opening five games, but there are a total of seven Cats averaging 0.6 goal assists or more in that time.

Only two Geelong players averaged 0.6 or more goal assists across the 2025 AFLW season; Julia Crockett-Grills with 1.0, and Moloney with 0.6.

Because of this increased willingness to bring teammates in and create those deeper forward entries by way of looking for goal assist opportunities, Geelong is kicking more than four more goals per game in 2026, and goaling more regularly from the inside 50s it creates than in years gone past. 

In five games the Cats have already kicked 50 goals. They kicked 69 across the whole of 2025.

They have made a marginal improvement on average inside 50s, but it is what they are doing once in the arc that has been the real difference.

*Geelong reached the preliminary final

Getting it there

Obviously, to create these opportunities ahead of the ball, movement up the field needs to be more effective. 

The Cats currently sit number one in the AFLW for disposal efficiency at an average of 69.8 per cent — this is something that the club has prided itself on in recent years.

The shift in disposal, however, has come via the method. A greater reliance on moving the ball by hand has been clear, with a league-low kick rate of 54.5 per cent, and a significant increase in uncontested possession indicates greater control outside the contest.

Issues of recent years are still present — ruck availability and strength is still a concern, clearance numbers have only marginally grown compared to 2025 — but the capacity to adapt on the outside has been the difference.

Generating and scoring from turnover is a clear point of improvement, with the Cats averaging 24.0 points per game from the source in 2025 compared to its 42.6 points this year.

From turnover, they are effectively getting on the move, handballing to runners, and going quickly. 

Becky Webster’s work across the half back line, to intercept and drive the ball forward has been crucial in this respect, as has Mikayla Bowen’s hard two-way running efforts while also carrying a heavy load through the midfield.

Not yet the complete package

While there are plenty of positive signs when it comes to Geelong’s attacking game, there is still room for improvement in its defensive phase.

Conceding higher scores, more inside 50s, and more marks in the opposition’s attacking zone, there is a vulnerability when sides can get the ball moving quickly against them.

There is an element of high risk, high reward in the game style the Cats have employed this year, and they are only five matches into the system, but protecting that defence more effectively is surely high on Stinear’s priority list as they continue through the season.

It is worth mentioning that after the Cats’ round one loss to powerhouse North Melbourne, their average score conceded is in fact 42.3 points, indicating an improvement in that area. 

But as the old adage goes; to be the best, you have to beat the best.

Come finals, this system needs to be able to stand up to what North Melbourne — or Stinear’s old side Melbourne — has to offer.

There is every indication to suggest it can, but without a match against the Demons fixtured in the home and away season, and the Roos already in the rear view mirror, finals will be the chance to really test the system once more.