David King takes aim at Geelong coach Chris Scott over Rhys Stanley selection call
Geelong’s season is hanging by a thread and the blame lies squarely at the feet of coach Chris Scott, according to North Melbourne great David King.
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Geelong coach Chris Scott should take full responsibility for the Cats’ latest finals failure according to North Melbourne great David King.
The Cats are staring at the possibility of a straight-sets finals exit as they try to fix their ruck problem against Nic Naitanui’s West Coast Eagles on Friday night.
King said Scott got it horribly wrong at the selection table when Geelong made the surprise call to drop ruckman Rhys Stanley for the qualifying finals against Collingwood.
Gun defender Mark Blicavs was moved into the ruck but had only one kick, 10 handballs, 14 hitouts and two marks as Collingwood exploded out of the blocks.
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“This game was lost by Chris Scott,” King said.
“Chris has decided to move Blicavs into the ruck, and drop (Rhys) Stanley, or not select him to take on (Brodie) Grundy, which is a strange decision on the back of the weather.
“It just changed so much in this game, (because it) made the full-back go into a position where had no effect.”
King said it was Scott’s fault that Geelong’s premiership campaign now “hangs in the balance” after finishing top of the table.
“The selection table is one of the pillars of the coaching manual, and that’s a major responsibility – to get that right,” King said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.
“You are paying these guys $800,000–$1 million a year not to make mistakes on this sort of stuff. They (senior coaches) can’t be the reason you are getting rolled.
“This didn’t need to happen, they didn’t need to take that gamble. I’m disappointed for the Geelong fans that another finals series hangs in the balance.”
Stanley is likely to be recalled for the clash against the Eagles in a bid to curb Naitanui’s extraordinary influence around the stoppages.
Naitanui had nine contested possessions and 24 hitouts in his comeback from an ankle injury in the Eagles’ commanding win over Essendon on Thursday night.
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Stanley’s return means Blicavs would certainly shift back into defence for a job on either West Coast spearhead Josh Kennedy or Jack Darling.
King said Scott needed to focus on making the right calls for Geelong on the field to avoid this season being a wasted year for the club.
Since the 2011 premiership Geelong has won only three of 12 finals appearances.
“His job is to win this elusive flag (because) 2011 was his first year and (Mark) ‘Bomber’ Thompson left him a fantastic team of absolute stars,” King said.
“But since then they have failed to get to the top of Everest again, and they’ve got a fantastic list, they have got a great home ground advantage down at Kardinia Park — GMHBA Stadium.
“I just think if they go out in straight sets, the fallout will be significant and it doesn’t cost him his job, but it’s just another year lost.”
Originally published as David King takes aim at Geelong coach Chris Scott over Rhys Stanley selection call
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