GEELONG is the only unbeaten team on the AFL ladder after a 19-point victory against Hawthorn on Monday.
Geelong’s 5-0 record followed the Cats scoring their 12th win against the Hawks in their past 13 encounters.
After the match coach Chris Scott reflected on the generational change blowing through his team, as new faces emerge among the team’s best players each week.
“We’re really embracing the fact that we’re a different team,” Scott said.
“We don’t want to live in the past and kid ourselves that because we were good at something two years ago we’re still good at it today. “We’ve got to keep proving it every time we play, with different personnel.
“We don’t think that makes as much of a difference as some people external to our footy club do.”
Scott said Monday’s win was the best guide yet this season as to where the Cats sit in the pecking order, having inflicted the Hawks’ first loss since round 19 last season.
However, the Cats were at the start of a marathon, he said.
“We’re round five, and I know you guys (media) need to talk about what it means in the context of the season, but for us we play the long game at footy clubs,” he said.
“It means a bit but it doesn’t mean anywhere near as much as the stuff later in the year.
“On our night we’re better than the five clubs we’ve played this year … I reckon that’s all it tells you to be honest.”
Steve Johnson starred for the Cats with 34 possessions and three goals, while big Tom Hawkins booted five goals.
Reborn ruckman Hamish McIntosh and defender Jared Rivers were other standouts for Geelong.
Scott noted the performance of both the recent recruits.
“They’ve had a tough run, particularly Hamish. It would be easy for Hamish to drop his bundle a bit and lose confidence in his ability and his body – he had played eight games in three years.
“We all feel really proud of the way he’s stuck at it because for the first 12 months it was hard for him to call himself a Geelong player because he just couldn’t get out on the field.
“You can do all the work perfectly in rehab, but until you get out there with your mates on the big stage, it’s hard to call yourself one of them. I think he can do that now.”
