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Geelong recruit Bailey Smith will wear the number 3, becoming the 15^th player in Cats history to wear the coveted number.

1963 Premiership captain Fred Wooller, three time All Australian and former Cats captain Mark Bairstow, 2007 Brownlow Medal winner and three time Premiership player Jimmy Bartel and most recently Premiership player Brandan Parfitt are just some of the names to have pulled on the number 3 in the Hoops.

Across Geelong’s V/AFL history, eight players have worn the number three for 100 games or more.  

Most notably, Bartel played 305 games for Geelong across an outstanding career with the Cats, featuring in three premierships (2007, 2009, 2011). 

Among other accolades, Bartel became Geelong’s fifth Brownlow Medal winner (2007), was selected in two All-Australian teams (2007, 2008) and won a Norm Smith Medal (2011).   

Bartel served as Geelong’s vice-captain for two years, while also being inducted into the Geelong Football Club Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2023.   

Captaining Geelong to their sixth V/AFL premiership in 1963, Wooller’s career spanned over nine years. Wooller won a Carji Greeves Medal in 1960 while also leading the Cats goal-kicking on three occasions (1957, 1959, 1960).  

As it currently stands, Wooller is the oldest living V/AFL captain and awarded the inaugural Ron Barassi Medal to the winning captain in the 2024 AFL Grand Final.   

Other players to wear the number three guernsey for Geelong includes Ken Newland who played 198 games for the Cats, Mark Bairstow a three-time All Australian (1987, 1991, 1992) and Geelong captain, and Brandan Parfitt who was a Premiership player with the Cats (2022).   

Geelong will announce the remaining player jumper number across the next two days. 

Purchase a New Recruits Membership and gain exclusive access to the New Recruits member event in January where you can meet Smith, Martin, and our draftees. Join the Cats for 2025 today at membership.geelongcats.com.au!