Geelong coach Chris Scott says thrilling win over Hawthorn was ‘almost as good as footy gets’
GEELONG coach Chris Scott lauded the Cats’ thrilling two-point win over Hawthorn in their qualifying final at the MCG as “almost as good as footy gets”.
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GEELONG coach Chris Scott lauded the Cats’ thrilling two-point win over Hawthorn in their qualifying final at the MCG as “almost as good as footy gets”.
In another classic battle between the sides in front of a crowd of 87,533, the Cats advanced to their first preliminary final since 2013 to move a step closer to a grand final berth.
The Cats hung on in a nail-biting finish when Hawk Isaac Smith missed a shot for goal after the final siren.
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Geelong had trailed by seven points at half-time, but surged back into the game in a big third quarter with three straight goals to slash the Hawks’ 17-point lead.
The Cats will now enjoy a week’s break before rebooting for a preliminary final assault, while the Hawks will have to take the long road if they are to keep their hopes of a fourth-straight premiership alive.
Scott said after the match he felt for Smith, but was proud of the fight his team had shown when the game was on the line.
“That’s almost as good as footy gets, isn’t it,” Scott said of the match that had seven lead changes in the second half.
“I feel for Isaac, it’s a horrible situation to be in. I think off the boot I think he thought it looked pretty good as well.
“In the moment you are not commiserating with them, but we certainly do feel for them.
“The game was typical of a final, a contrast of styles, but still really fierce and it was just the team that could take the moment when it really counted that was going to prevail. Not much you could do bout it from the coaches box for the last 30 seconds or so.
“But we celebrated pretty well I think.’’
Geelong will now have its second week off in three weeks, but Scott said the Cats had a plan well mapped out.
He said the club was “very confident” Lachie Henderson would be fit to return for the preliminary final.
“We put ourselves in with a real chance now,’’ Scott said.
“We would rather have it (the week off) than not, we have put some thought into it and without getting ahead of ourselves, we think we have put together a pretty good plan.
“I guarantee whatever happens prelim final night I won’t sit here and say it it’s the round 23 bye that killed us.’’
Geelong was led by the brilliant midfield pair of Patrick Dangerfield (35 disposals) and captain Joel Selwood (26 disposals and one goal), with the pair lifting a gear in the second half to propel the Cats to their last-gasp win.
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“It wasn’t his best game necessarily, it wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but gee he’s hard to stop completely,’’ Scott said of Dangerfield’s game.
“He is just a competitor, he just loves the big moment and hopefully we’ve got a few of those.’’
Originally published as Geelong coach Chris Scott says thrilling win over Hawthorn was ‘almost as good as footy gets’
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