North Melbourne premiership player David King believes if Tim Kelly leaves Geelong, the Cats won’t finish in the top four next year.
Kelly looks likely to move back home to Western Australia and play for West Coast next year, after failing to make a deal work to do so in the last trade period.
Now that the Cats have bowed out of premiership contention, all the talk will be on the 25-year-old’s 2020 destination, especially after a stellar performance against Richmond on Friday night.
“The Tim Kelly discussion is really the only thing to talk about with Geelong now,” King told SEN’s Whateley.
“(He gathered) 31 (disposals) and (kicked) three (goals), the whole team only kicked nine.
“I really think that as he walks out the door, so too does top four next year.”
But King believes Geelong has a good reason to be optimistic, with Gryan Miers showing promise throughout the year.
“I thought Gryan Miers was fantastic (against Richmond),” he said.
“I think that they’ve found one there.
“We’ve talked about him all year and he’s had a fantastic season.
“He’s a 200-gamer, he’s going to have some serious influence.”
After finishing as minor premiers for the 2019 season, Geelong’s premiership campaign ended on Friday night with a 19-point loss against the Tigers in the Preliminary Final.
Listen to David King on Whateley in the player below: