Jostling for best spot in market
in the competition, and that is really, really difficult.
“Traditionally it has been a big mistake to overrate where you think you are, so we try to do it, and I think we get asked about it most weeks, and the answer is I don’t know.
“Right at the moment if you look around the competition, Melbourne is probably the best team in it, but it doesn’t really matter in Round 10 or Round 11, so it’s easy to get carried away on both sides of the ledger.”
They would need to look at manoeuvring some of their player contracts but the Cats have room to bring in a free agent at the end of the season should they choose to go down that path.
Already they have been linked to Luke Dahlhaus and Scott Lycett, as well as Carlton captain Marc Murphy.
There is also the issue of retaining some of their own free agents, including Dan Menzel and Cam Guthrie, as part of their overall total player payment (TPP) model.
But the idea that only teams in the premiership window should actively pursue free agents is one Scott believes is outdated, saying clubs had every right to chase players they felt could speed up the development of its list.
“I would question the notion that if a team brings in a free agent on good financial terms for the club’s TPP that that reflects that you think you are in the window for premiership success,” he said.
“I would counter that players on good financial EMERG: terms that you don’t have to give up a draft pick for would be good for anyone, for any team.
“I know that has been the traditional thinking, that if you bring in older players or you bring in free agents that you think you can have immediate success, but I just think that has changed.”
This year’s draft has long been touted as one out of the box and clubs will undoubtedly be active in trying to work their way up the order to secure the best available young talent in the country.
But Scott said trading players for picks — such as Geelong had done with great effect in the past — as opposed to securing them via free agency, would be something clubs would only look at it they felt a flag was very close.
“If you need to dedicate a big chunk of your TPP to