AFL greats have been left puzzled by a bold Geelong coaching move that, by Chris Scott’s own admission, backfired against the Giants.
The Cats on Sunday suffered a four-point loss to the Giants – the visitors’ fifth straight win over Geelong at GMHBA Stadium – in one of the best and most gripping games of the season yet.
But the close finish came after an early blitz from the Giants, who kicked five of the first six goals of the game off the back of early clearance dominance.
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The Cats curiously chose to start in-form star Bailey Smith on the wing and superstar goalkicker Jeremy Cameron in for the first four centre bounces.
A transparent Scott post-game conceded the move “destabilised” his side.
“I was about to say ‘we’, it was me. We made some errors early with the way we structured up, took a few educated risks, and I thought that actually destabilised us a little bit,” Scott said post-match.
“We started Smith out on the wing and Cameron in. I’m not saying it shouldn’t have been Cameron in … that’s one of those things where I thought it was a very high probability of it working – and when it doesn’t, you think ‘oh we shouldn’t have done it’.”
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Speaking on Fox Footy’s On The Couch, eight-time premiership legend Leigh Matthews questioned what Scott’s goal would’ve been,
“I would always prefer him (Cameron) to be the forward six. He gets up the field but he might be one of the theoretical six forwards and his opponent doesn’t know whether to go all the way with him or not go with him – that’s how he’s played his best football,” he told On The Couch.
Matthews later added: “What did he (Scott) think he was trying to achieve, do you think? Because you’d think in the first five minutes of the game, you want your best centre square squad in there pretty much. Why would you change from that? I wonder what Chris thought he would potentially gain from him being there?”
Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis said Scott was “trying to be a little bit too creative”.
“He (Cameron) is not a centre bounce player, let’s be honest. He’s much better roaming around trying to keep his defender behind him and making those decisions,” Lewis told On The Couch.
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“It is a totally different game in the centre bounce and you need a totally different toolbox to be able to perform in there. I just think it was maybe a coaching position that was trying to be a little bit too creative.”
Seven-time All-Australian Nathan Buckley said the Cats missed an opportunity to make an early statement against the Giants.
“I think the main issue out of that was you’ve got an opponent that’s coming to your home deck and they’ve won the last four … the first 10 minutes sets the tone – and it did set the tone for the rest of the day,” he said.
“‘Scotty’ doesn’t see himself as responsible for motivating his players. Players motivate themselves – and he sets them up … I thought that first 10 minutes was when Geelong needed to make a stand: ‘It’s going to be uncomfortable for you to come here. You’ve beaten us the last four times, you are going to be uncomfortable in the first 10 or 15.’ If you don’t set it then, you’re setting it up for another type of game – and I think the Giants grew off that.”
Tripe premiership Lion Jonathan Brown added: “That was obviously a strategy gone wrong, Chris admitted that, but I think the main concern is behind the footy.
“Some of the defensive set-ups and defensive decision-making was all out of sync. This has been a trend, not just yesterday, but for the season.”
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