Cats honour new Hall of Fame inductees

THE Geelong Cats honoured a new group of top contributors both on and off the field at its Hall of Fame Dinner on the weekend.

The prestigious event at GMHBA Stadium saw hundreds of Cats players, officials, coaches and members come together to celebrate the club’s past and present history.

Headlining the celebrations was the elevation of Cameron Ling to Legend status and the induction of Travis Varcoe, Harry Taylor and premiership coach Chris Scott into the Hall of Fame.

Ling becomes only the 28th player in the club’s history to receive its highest honour, joining luminaries including Corey Enright, Frank Costa, Charles Brownlow, Matthew Scarlett and Gary Ablett Snr.

Cats AFLW stalwarts Kate Darby and Renee Garing became the club’s first women’s players to receive life membership.

The pair both played in the Cats historical Round 1 AFLW match against Collingwood in 2019 and went on to become pioneers of elite level women’s football in Geelong across multiple seasons.

A further 11 individuals were awarded life membership for their incredible service to Geelong on and off the field.

The Cats also presented Colin Carter with the esteemed RJ Hickey Award, recognising his outstanding service to Australian football.

Carter’s service to the game dates to 1985 when he was a consultant to the then-VFL Commission, before serving as Cats president from 2010 to 2020.