RYAN DANIELS: Geelong’s long run of success comes as Chris Scott leads the Cats into AFL preliminary final

I’m sitting here, staring at a blank page, wondering … would anyone read a whole column about Geelong? I mean, they’re kind of boring, right?

The sun rises, the sun sets, and Geelong are in another preliminary final. Cool.

That makes five of the last six seasons reaching a prelim. Seven of the last nine seasons. 13 of the last 18.

That’s insane. Can you imagine supporting a club that year after year puts itself in a position to play in grand finals?

They’ve made six deciders — and won four flags during that 21-year stretch from 2004 to now.

Do you know the last time the Cats finished in the bottom four? It was 1986. The year Top Gun came out. West Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide, Port, Fremantle, GWS and Gold Coast didn’t exist. Dipper won the bloody Brownlow.

I could run these stats out all day — the numbers that make the Cats the Cats.

In 21 years, the list has undergone multiple transitions — stars coming and going, yet the Cats never bottom out.

So how do they do it?

Chris Scott is the best coach in the AFL right now.

The team he took over from Bomber Thompson in 2011 was loaded — he won a flag in his first season — but it’s what he’s done in the back half of his run that’s more impressive.

A man who seems completely at peace with his own place, his ability, his support. He sells the message of Geelong — we don’t panic, we’ll compete, we’ll let you be you.

At some point, Geelong figured out the best way to win flags isn’t to build a super team — but to build a super club. Be ruthless in pursuit of talent — but also the development of that talent. Nurture and promote your people, give players a warm and flexible environment — a chance to win stuff is the end result, but it doesn’t happen without all the other things.

The geography helps, for sure.

Have you been to Geelong? It’s like an episode of Friday Night Lights. Cats’ colours in shop windows, dogs called Tomahawk, first-borns named Enright. The entire town buys into everything with a navy and white hoop. When the Cats thrive, Geelong thrives, and they do a lot of thriving.

They have a great mix of being an 80-minute drive from Melbourne — but the feel of a big country town.

Like to fish? They have that. Into four-wheel-driving? They have that. Want a few acres, maybe a tractor, some chooks and a couple of cows? There’s land. Plenty of it.

For certain recruits, that’s a major selling point — and something no other club can offer.

Alastair Clarkson spoke of that earlier this year, in regards to the Cats pitching the country life.

“You say, that’s not going to be attractive for people, they just want the bright lights. Jeremy Cameron didn’t want the bright lights — neither did Patrick Dangerfield,” Clarko said.

The list build is Picasso level stuff.

They are where they are because they get all of this stuff right. The smart parts, the hard parts, the easy parts and the lucky parts.

When you’re making so many prelims, you don’t get high picks. You need to be thrifty.

And the Cats are thriftier than Macklemore. Looking to pop some tags, but with only $20 in their pockets, the Cats find designer threads in the dregs of a bargain bin every year.

Against Port two weeks ago, they had one player they drafted inside the top 20 — and that was Max Holmes, at pick 20.

Ollie Dempsey just won the AFL Rising Star Award — he was a rookie draft selection.

Brad Close, Zach Guthrie, Tom Atkins, Jack Henry — all rookie draft pick-ups too.

Tom Stewart — now a five-time All-Australian — was a pick 40, Gryan Miers a pick 57.

Over and over, they do this stuff.

Right now, there’s some 22-year-old bloke running around for the Barwon Heads Seagulls, racking up touches and kicking snags. The Cats will pluck him out of obscurity in three years and he’ll win a Brownlow.

Just last year, they were at it again with Shaun Mannagh — a bloke who everyone saw dominate the VFL last season, who kicked six goals in a losing grand final side, yet the Cats were the ones who picked him up — at pick 36. He’s been one of their best the past six weeks.

Lawson Humphries — the second last player selected at last year’s draft (pick 63) is a revelation — I have no idea which foot this kid kicks with. He’s that good on both sides. He came into the side in round 16, has played 10 in a row and looks like he’s played 200 games.

A few years back they Jedi mind-tricked the Suns into a deal that saw the Cats gain Pick 7 (Jhye Clark) and Jack Bowes, in exchange for a future third-round pick.

Sure, Gold Coast were desperate to unload salary — but last time I checked there are 16 other clubs that could’ve made the same move as Geelong, who could’ve put themselves in the same proactive position to get that done — but didn’t.

You can whinge about the recruiting of big stars — Jeremy Cameron and Patrick Dangerfield — and yes, that’s a handy way to stay at the top.

Tom Hawkins was a father-son pick, so was Gary Ablett Jr, Matthew Scarlett too.

And that is lottery winning kind of stuff.

Of course, that helps — but it’s only part of the puzzle.

The truth is, they are where they are because they get all of this stuff right. The smart parts, the hard parts, the easy parts and the lucky parts.

Be bored, sure, but also be impressed.