SCOTTY’S BIG CALL
GEELONG coach Chris Scott is confident his team has the method to undo Richmond’s 10-game winning streak and advance to the club’s first grand final in eight years.
The Cats smashed the Tigers by 67 points in Round 12 — the last match Geelong played before the bye — but Damien Hardwick’s men have looked vastly different since, losing only one more game before starting its run of victories.
Richmond was missing a host of key players in the Round 12 clash, including bookends Jack Riewoldt and David Astbury, and Geelong enters Friday night’s preliminary final without its No.1 forward Tom Hawkins.
But despite the Hawkins setback, Scott said he was confident the Cats’ recent record against the Tigers showed they were capable of matching it with the flag favourites.
“They have made a few minor tweaks to the way they have been playing since then, but to look on the positive side, I don’t think it means that much, and certainly our players aren’t looking back and thinking we can’t beat them,” Scott said.
“I think we do have a method that troubles them.
“I am not a big fan of looking too far back, but I don’t think we were anywhere near as good a team last year as we are now. And I think they were a better team last year than they are now.
“We played them twice and got roughly within a kick those times as well (the Cats lost by three points in Round 20 and 18 points in Round 13), so for what it is worth I think our players would think if they can get the game on their terms there is a way to beat them.”
The two-pronged attack of Riewoldt and Tom Lynch is one aspect of Richmond’s game that has troubled teams in the back-half of the season, as has the increased output of ball winner Dustin Martin.
Martin’s influence near goal has been a major weapon, and limiting his effect will be crucial to Geelong’s chances of reaching the last Saturday in September this year.
Scott said while it was evident Richmond had plenty of strengths, there were also aspects of its game style that could be exploited.
“One of the key parts for us is not focusing too much on all of their strengths and trying to come up with plans outside of the way we play to mitigate them,” he said.
“Their method is very simple, and I would suggest that it wouldn’t matter who they were playing, where it was being played or what the conditions were that they would play the same way.
“There are strengths and weaknesses in that approach but I suspect, especially in the second half of the year, that they have been a team that has overwhelmed some teams in the midfield and looked dangerous when they have got it forward.
“I am not sure their numbers around the contest reflect the dominance some people think they have.
“So, for us, I think there is a strong argument that it is going to be two pretty good midfields going at each other.
“I suspect there won’t be too many individual match-ups, it will be more group versus group, and I am prepared to say we are happy to take them on in that area.”