Chris Scott suspects Hawthorn’s horror first half against Port Adelaide was an “outlier” as Geelong prepares to resume one of the AFL’s great rivalries.
The Cats-Hawks Easter Monday blockbuster at the MCG has become a highlight of the season.
Asked if there was a bigger home-and-away game for his club, Scott paused and replied “good question”.
While the Cats overran Adelaide to start Gather Round, Hawthorn ended last weekend’s fixture by falling 71 points behind in the first half against Port Adelaide for an upset loss.
“It’s a real error, in my opinion, to look at a game that, on the balance of the last 20-odd games they’ve played, appears to be an outlier,” Scott said after their Easter Sunday training.
“We could try to get some false hope that this is now the new Hawthorn.
“We could also make a mistake by saying ‘all right, Port played them exactly the way they need to be played and we change our game-style to try to mimick that.
“We’d end up a poor reproduction. But there are always things you take out, the last month especially, with teams.”
He also noted that the Hawks’ ability to work back into the game after such a poor first half is “one of the marks of a good team”.
Scott saw the humour when asked about Port’s surprise move of Connor Rozee to half-back, which worked superbly in their big win.
“We’ll play Rozee at half-back as well if they’ll lend us him for a week,” Scott said.
“Stewart and Rozee would be handy ‘ins’. wouldn’t they?”
Tom Stewart will return after missing the Adelaide game because of illness.
He was Geelong’s latest last-minute withdrawal and Scott remains unapologetic.
“I just don’t care about the discussion around it,” Scott said.
“If you can find a situation where you think ‘we’ve just made a frivolous, late change for the sake of it’ – bring it up and I will explain it to you.”
Hawthorn are poised to drop star small forward Jack Ginnivan, but again Scott is on guard about what challenges the opposition attack will present Geelong.
“Maybe it’s because of our history, but I’ve rated Luke Breust for 300 games or so,” he said.
“If anyone’s playing in front of him, I don’t think they could consider themselves to be stiff, going out.”
More than 90,000 fans are set to pack the MCG for Easter Monday, but Scott said there’s a difference between a big-occasion game and a big rivalry.
“The real rivalries are the ones where good teams have been able to go at each other over a long period,” he said.
“I’ve been at Geelong for 15-odd years and it’s felt like these games have been big, not because it’s Easter Monday, but because they’ve been two good teams.”
Scott said Geelong had used the unusually long break since the Adelaide game to their advantage.
“We’re ready to play well,” he said.
