Scotty: Nothing we tried worked
GEELONG’S injury crisis has deepened as it confronts a sudden-death semi-final in the wake of a 51-point drubbing at the hands of Richmond.
Midfielder Cam Guthrie and defender Jake Kolodjashnij sustained possible seasonending calf injuries as the Cats were left to lick their wounds at the MCG last night.
Versatile utility Mark Blicavs also battled a knee injury as Geelong was wiped off the park by a rampant Richmond, letting a 13-point three-quarter time deficit drift to an eightgoal plus belting.
“He (Guthrie) and Kolodjashnij going down with calves hurt, it wasn’t ideal, but how much impact did it have on the game, it’s hard to say right at the moment,” a shattered Scott said post match. “Guthrie’s significant and we’re more optimistic on Kolodjashnij, but not overly optimistic.”
The Cats have now lost seven of their past nine finals since the 2011 premiership.
Scott admitted his side was out of the contest from the getgo. “We were on the back footy early in the game and were just hanging in there,” he said.
“A couple of goals close to halftime gave us a bit of hope, but even then we just didn’t have many players play well.
“Their late goal in the third quarter gave them a little bit of hope, but when you’re 13 points down, three-quarter time and in the game ... sometimes when you have a big percentage of your players not play well and you’re still in the game, things can change really quickly. Unfortunately it changed for them.
“The dam wall burst.”
With just five marks and four tackles inside 50, the Cats struggled to apply any defensive pressure. “That fair to say,” Scott said. “The bigger issue is 38 entries and our forwards just didn’t win the contest that the opposition did. They pressured well in the conditions early and it was hard for us to move the ball. We just lacked composure with the ball. You can drill down a bit further but the bottom line was had such a large group of our team weren’t playing well.
“Not much that we tried on the night seemed to work.”
Geelong faces a big challenge ahead, meeting the win of today’s clash with Sydney and Essendon. That semi-final is set to be on Friday night.
“When you go on that side of the draw, you could argue Adelaide and Sydney have been the best sides all year, but and we’ve worked really hard to get into a position to have a crack at it,” Scott said. “We have no choice but to be optimistic about what we can do, but when you’re playing at this end of the season, the opposition is good and if you’re not as good as you can be, you can be exploited pretty badly, which is what happened in the last quarter. But we’re up for the fight.”