Complex sentence: Players transferred to other clubs, butnot all returned when Geelong rejoined the competition for the 1944 season, and the club was left with the unenviable task of rebuilding, leading to poor finishes down the bottom end of the ladder for the rest of the late 1940s.
Split into simpler sentences: Players transferred to other clubs, and not all returned when Geelong rejoined the competition for the 1944 season. The club was left with the unenviable task of rebuilding, leading to poor finishes down the bottom end of the ladder for the rest of the late 1940s.