Big Cat wants more clarity from coach

Keen to see where he sits in Geelong’s plans this year, a brutally honest Zac Smith says he will seek clarity from coach Chris Scott.

The out-of-form ruckman blames consistency issues for his demotion to the VFL, but the Rockhampton product remains confident he can regain the Cats’ No.1 ruck spot.

Smith said he had not received any indication on whether there was room in the side for both him and incumbent Rhys Stanley, who played together throughout last season.

“The dialogue (with Scott) is just constantly ongoing,” Smith said.

“I’ll probably seek out a little bit more this week on where that’s at, because I actually haven’t asked the question if they’ve thought about playing Rhys and I (together). They just haven’t tried it (this year), even in the JLT (pre-season competition) they didn’t try it.

“They haven’t directly said that to me so that’s the message I’m feeling, so it’s kind of half obvious. I’m sure they’ve spoken about it, they go through all different scenarios week in, week out.

“Maybe I’m just not playing well enough at the moment.”

The Cats have so far opted to use only one of the ruckmen – or neither against West Coast in round three – with Esava Ratugolea or Mark Blicavs as a back-up.

Smith said he knew it was up to him to fight for a spot back in the team in the coming weeks.

“That’s the challenge ... there are so many challenges week in, week out and here’s another one that’s popped up,” he said.

“There’s always going to be a No.1 ruckman at any club and I know I’m good enough to do that.

“It’s just building that consistency ... that’s not only week to week but quarter to quarter. I’ve just lacked that over the last few weeks – even in the JLT I lacked that bit of consistency of effort I suppose. It just comes down to that.

“It looks like they’re not going to play the both of us in the side and that’s the way it is, so we’ve just both got to fight for it.”