GEELONG’S surprise 41-point loss to Brisbane at home was a one-match “blip”, according to coach Chris Scott.
The Lions got the wood over the Cats at GMHBA Stadium for the first time since 2003, with five-goal hero Logan Morris still two years away from being born the last time his side saluted down the coast.
“Tonight’s a disaster in the context of tonight. I’m terrible at this, but I need to practice what I preach a bit and move on quickly,” Scott told reporters post-match.
“I think it’s pretty easy to take a step back and say – if you looked at this point in time 10 weeks ago, I wouldn’t take 10-5 (win-loss), I want 15-0.
“But in the context of a really competitive season where a lot of teams are losing games, I think the question is, ‘Does that position give you a chance?’ I think that’s an emphatic ‘Yes’. I’m confident tonight was a bit of a blip, as disappointing as it is.”
The Cats were rushed while entering inside 50, and Harris Andrews ruled the aerial battle. Throw in a number of shots fading off centre, and Geelong posted a very disappointing 6.15 for the night, with just three different goalkickers after Jeremy Cameron posted four.
“We played a really good team, and they were sharp tonight, and we were the opposite. If that’s a pattern throughout your games, then you’ve got a problem, and you may not be a very good team. I don’t think that’s the case with us, it hasn’t been a pattern, and it was a bad game to have an off night,” Scott said.
“Sometimes you can have a bad night and get away with it, but you can’t against that quality of opposition. I didn’t think it was a complete disaster – the scoreboard got out of control, in a way, based on their efficiency. They kicked for goal differently to the way they have in previous weeks, and we kicked a bit more like they have.
“Even at three-quarter time, when we were well and truly up against it, the expected score was pretty tight. There was just some uncharacteristic stuff. It’s not complicated, it’s the stuff you all saw – skill errors, there’s a little bit of method stuff, but so much of it was execution. This might be one that you put in the category of being beaten by a better team on the night, bye next week, chance to regroup, we’re in pretty good shape.”
Chris Fagan was at his beaming best in the post-match chat, thrilled his side had ticked off “the final hoodoo”, one of a number of unwanted losing streaks against individual sides the Lions had racked up before he took charge in 2016.
“When I spoke yesterday, I wasn’t too confident we could tick it off, because it’s hard to come down here and beat the Cats. They’ve been an amazing team for a long time, and beating them at home is a special thing to do,” Fagan said.
“We’re rapt as a football club, and really happy with the contribution we got from all the players tonight, I thought it was a great team effort.
“Our best performances this year have been Hawthorn at the ‘G, here tonight and probably Adelaide in Adelaide, even though we didn’t win that game.
“When we got to the bye last year, we were 13th. When we’ve got to the bye this year, we’re second. Plenty of things still to work on, but I think the boys have done a good job to win a flag, weather the storm in the first part of the year, and it hasn’t been smooth sailing, all the teams come at you, but I’m pretty pleased with where we’re at.”
Brandon Starcevich has hit the ground running in his two games back from a serious concussion suffered at the start of the season, taking on the might of Patrick Dangerfield in his 350th game. The Cats champion was off his game, kicking three behinds, with Starcevich more than holding his own until he was subbed out in the fourth quarter.
“He cramped up, he said, ‘I don’t think I can go back out there, Fages’. Fair enough. It was just good to have him back,” Fagan said.
“It’s been a fairly long time before he was able to come back, he couldn’t train for four or five weeks, so we had to recondition him. In a way, that was good because it gave his head a little more time to recover.
“He loves those sorts of roles, that’s him. I think he had (Tom) Papley in the Grand Final last year, he’s got a lot of scalps. You look at him, he’s a big man. I wouldn’t want to play on him, he makes it tough for you. That’s why it’s good to have him back, because it makes it difficult for smaller forwards.
