Coach grateful for club taking a punt on him
Geelong coach Chris Scott says he is forever indebted to the Cats for taking a punt on him as an inexperienced senior coach.
Scott will be inducted into Geelong’s Hall of Fame along with dual premiership players Harry Taylor and Travis Varcoe, who played in the 2011 grand final under Scott in his first season at the Cats, at
Geelong’s Hall of Fame night in June.
Three-time premiership player Cameron Ling will also be honoured with legend status, with the quartet to be recognised at Geelong’s Hall of Fame night in June.
Scott, 48, has had more games at the helm than any other Geelong coach with 317 and boasts a stunning 69.2 per cent win rate – the most important of those victories being the 2011 and 2022 grand finals.
Scott recalled the raw coach he was when he got the job in 2010 and said he owed the club a lot for giving him the opportunity.
“I’m just so respectful of people that have helped make this footy club what it is,” Scott said. “My mind just goes back to 2010 when I was a 34-year-old assistant coach, without any great designs on ever becoming a head coach, and I was parachuted into a great club with great people and they’ve helped make me who I am.
“So I’ve always been of the view right from the start, even before we had success in our first year, like literally right from the start of that preseason that, whatever happens, I’m going to owe this club a lot more than it owes me. So I’m very appreciative.”
Taylor, a two-time AllAustralian defender, was one of the toughest match-ups in the game throughout his 280-game career where he also kicked 75 goals.
Varcoe slotted 130 goals in 138 games for the Cats and was then traded to Collingwood at the end of 2014, where he played a further 92 matches.