Australian Football League side Geelong’s "rank-and-file supporters have rallied to aggressive recruiting late last year by signing on in their droves as members," according to Greg Denham of NEWS LIMITED. Before Christmas, the Cats achieved a "membership milestone figure" of 40,035, almost 10,000 up on the corresponding time in '14. Despite Geelong missing the finals last year for the first time since '06, "fans have rushed to get on board" after the recruitment of midfielder Patrick Dangerfield from Adelaide. Since Christmas, membership has "continued to climb despite the Cats’ Simonds Stadium headquarters having a reduced capacity until stage four of the ground’s redevelopment is scheduled to finish by May next year." Geelong CEO Brian Cook said that the current membership figure had passed 42,000. Cook: "We’re still aiming for 50,000, which we hope is achievable." Geelong’s "massive membership rally is far greater than the overall increase at club level this year" of about 7% on corresponding '15 figures (NEWS LIMITED, 2/11).
