Chris Scott hopes Geelong stood up when it counted against Richmond but has his doubts

CHRIS Scott desperately wants to believe Geelong stood when it mattered against Richmond on Sunday but conceded there is lingering doubt.

Chris Scott celebrates with his players after the win over Richmond.

CHRIS Scott desperately wants to believe Geelong stood up to be counted when it mattered during its spectacular Houdini escape against Richmond on Sunday.

But the Cats coach concedes there is a lingering doubt that for three quarters at the MCG his side bottled it during a game replete with finals ramifications.

An inaccurate Geelong was peering over the top four cliff when it trailed the resurgent Tigers by 35 points at three-quarter time, only to produce a stirring six-goals-to-one fightback in the final term to secure a vital 10.22 (82) to 12.6 (78) win.

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Scott said “I thought we were in trouble” at the final change and admitted the September repercussions had the coaches box more on edge than it otherwise might have been.

The Cats still sit fourth with two games to play, but are at least now are a game ahead of fifth-placed Greater Western Sydney - which has a healthier percentage.

“We’ve got to think about whether or not the moment affected us at all,” Scott said.

Geelong players celebrate a goal against Richmond.

“The glass half full (approach) is that in the moment when it really counted we needed to deliver and we did, but for the first three quarters we were obviously disappointing.

“For whatever reason, and we’ve got to dig really deep in our review, we weren’t at our best in a game that was really important for us.”

Harry Taylor, in his 200th game, played much of the second half in the forward line and kicked the go-ahead goal late in the final term, further enhancing his status as a dangerous swingman.

Fellow defender Lachie Henderson also joined him in the attacking 50m arc in the last quarter as Scott threw everything at a Tigers side he said had “parked the bus” in defence throughout the day.

Asked if he would consider deploying either of the utilities forward on a more permanent basis during the finals, Scott said he would adopt a “horses for courses” approach.

Geelong stunned Richmond with a fourth-quarter comeback at the MCG.

“We know Harry Taylor can play forward and we’re very confident that Lachie can play well for us forward too,” he said.

“Those two made a difference and opened it up a little bit for (Tom) Hawkins.

“It’s an option that we’ve talked about a lot and I’m sure we’ll continue to talk about it.

“We train it a little bit because we’re reticent to throw things at the team that we haven’t practised. But the pleasing thing for us is that the players showed a willingness to adapt the way that they were playing in a pretty high-pressure situation.”

Originally published as Chris Scott hopes Geelong stood up when it counted against Richmond but has his doubts