GREAT SCOTT:
GEELONG COACH’S AMAZING SACRIFICE
PREMIERSHIP coach Chris Scott will sacrifice his entire salary while the league is shut down.
It was revealed yesterday that while Scott will continue working as part of Geelong’s skeleton staff, he will do so without being paid.
Dual premiership Cat Cam Mooney last night lauded Scott’s generosity and said it would show fans and players how much he cared for his assistant coaches.
Geelong sources confirmed his dramatic decision at an uncertain time for many staff. It is understood he told the club he did not want to be paid while his assistant coaches were stood down without pay.
Though most AFL coaches are well paid, they have mortgages and bills to pay like the rest of society.
Most of Geelong’s football department will go on stand-by, with 10-14 officials likely to keep working. Mooney said he hoped all senior coaches would consider something similar to Scott’s gesture.
“I think it’s fantastic. It will endear him to the players and other coaches,” Mooney said. “It is a magnificent gesture considering the world we are in right now. I am surprised all head coaches aren’t doing that — taking their pay and giving their assistants a bit. They should all do it but I am glad someone has done it first.
“We talk about one-in, all-in. Well this is the biggest scenario you could ever talk about.”
The AFL’s senior coaches volunteered early on in the coronavirus crisis to take a 20 per cent pay cut, but now senior coaches are going above and beyond.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan will reportedly take a 50 per cent pay cut while football is stood down.
Geelong’s management has been blown away by a chunk of their players who offered pay cuts to save staff yesterday.
Some staff even offered to stand down to save other staff members who have mortgage obligations.
Scott said on Monday clubs had endured a brutal day of standdowns. “(It was) one of the hardest (days) I've ever had in footy," Scott, who was drafted by the Brisbane Bears in 1993, said on AFL 360.
“We had a lot of one-onone meetings with staff and our HR department and Simon Lloyd our GM of footy, we've done a mountain of work around that trying to make sure that we look after people as much as we possibly can while laying out the gravity of the situation.
“I think we're all a little bit scared at the moment and we can't sugarcoat that part of it.
“There's a lot that's going to happen over the next couple of weeks and I suspect it's going to get worse before it gets better and it's going to be a monumental challenge for all of us.
“I hope the players left the footy club sensing the determination of the people in the industry to support them as best as possible.
“One of the hard parts about that is we couldn't lay it all out for them because we just don't know exactly where this is going to end up.”