By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
FRIDAY night football comes to Kardinia Park for the first time as the annual Scott bowl brings a blockbuster against North Melbourne to town.
Geelong coach Chris Scott flagged the game against twin brother Brad as a big occasion that would be “good for the club, good for the town”.
“It shows Geelong has come a long way and our stadium has come a long way too,” Scott said.
“It’s a good game on the big stage and Simonds Stadium hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase itself on a Friday night.”
With the Kangaroos and Cats exhibiting similar levels of inconsistency, the game looms as a crucial contest that might even be season-defining.
Both sides have played sublime football against top quality opposition while also putting in a series of clangers to fold under pressure.
Speaking about North Melbourne this week, Scott agreed the Kangaroos’ best was very good but they could be a bit inconsistent.
“They’re in a group of teams probably below the very best but well and truly above the bottom five or six on the ladder.
“We have no choice but to anticipate that they’ll play their very best and we need to match it.”
Fans could expect to see a Geelong team focussed on getting off to a fast start while emphasising contested possessions, Scott suggested.
“Given the way we started against Fremantle last week, we’re pretty keen to make amends for that,” he admitted.
“We didn’t play well, there were parts of our game that were okay after quarter time but we got smashed around the ball and the stoppages.
“When you give up 43 contested possessions and 17 clearances the rest of your game has to be unbelievable.”
Scott revealed that Geelong’s forward set-up had been giving the coaching group headaches.
“It’s been a little bit inconsistent in terms of output and performance but also in terms of personnel,” Scott said.
Four of the players earmarked to succeed James Podsiadly had been injured at various times.
“So we’re always going to have to think on our feet a little bit to adjust to what we think is working at the time so we’re a long way from being settled on exactly our best forward structure.
“It’s not as if we’re bereft of options. We just haven’t found one yet that we absolutely want to stick with week in, week out.”
