Geelong coach Chris Scott insists his side’s year-ending loss to St Kilda last season is irrelevant ahead of its Marvel Stadium reunion.
The Cats had to win against the Saints in round 23 last year to keep their premiership defence alive.
Instead, Chris Scott’s men missed finals for the second time in 17 years after the Saints led from siren to siren to seal a 33-point win.
Meeting again on Saturday in the same fixture but with their finals spot almost guaranteed, Scott says he could hardly remember last year’s affair when asked how much his side had improved since then.
The Cats are playing to consolidate their top-four spot while Ross Lyon’s charges, sitting in 14th, are looking to end their season on a high.
“I find it hard to remember exactly what was going on and I don’t spend any time trying to remember because I don’t think it’s very relevant,” Scott said on Friday.
“We’re in a completely different stage now. We’re physically in good shape. Our game is in good shape, not perfect, but no one’s is.
“I don’t really think about it too much like we played St Kilda last in round one and that feels a long time ago as well. We’re trying to be a little bit more in the moment and what’s in front of us.”
Scott has made two changes for Saturday’s match with Gary Rohan and Mitch Knevitt coming in for Zach Tuohy and Tanner Bruhn.
The seasoned coach stopped short of confirming whether captain Patrick Dangerfield will be managed ahead of the pre-season bye, but ruled retiring star Tom Hawkins out of their round-24 match against West Coast.
“I think in a perfect world not many guys would need two weeks off, but I think like Sam De Koning (who is struggling with a knee injury) is a good example,” Scott said.
“We’ll have to think long and hard about whether we play him in the last round of the season.
“I don’t think you’d strictly call that management but I think there are scenarios where it’s not absolutely compulsory that we push guys to play that game to be available for finals.”
St Kilda has made one change, omitting Angus McLennan for Hugo Garcia.
