Chris Scott says Geelong didn’t play finals-standard football and was beaten in the midfield by Essendon

GEELONG coach Chris Scott admits the Cats went away from finals-standard footy as they squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to bridge the percentage gap on the top-four sides.

GEELONG coach Chris Scott admits the Cats went away from finals-standard footy as they squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to bridge the percentage gap on the top-four sides.

The Cats still gained 4 per cent but have slipped to fifth after Adelaide put the hapless Brisbane Lions to the sword on Saturday night to leapfrog into third spot.

Scott was left to rue a scourge of missed chances in front of goal and fired the blowtorch at his midfield for being beaten around the ball too often in the 15.10 (100) to 4.10 (34) snooze-fest.

“I think the game was played a little bit differently to the way you would expect finals to be played, which is … not concerning for us, but it is something we will need to address if that trend continues,” Scott said.

“We were actually beaten in and around the ball too often tonight, especially inside the clinches, and that wouldn’t be a trend that we’d like to see continue.

“There was some positives as well. I know they missed some shots but we kept them to a relatively low score.

“It wasn’t a disaster, we still generated some good chances. It wasn’t as if we were horrible. We just didn’t think we were as good as we have been against some of the better teams.”

Comeback king Daniel Menzel sat out the final quarter with groin tightness after the Cats opted to take a safety-first approach given his history of injury setbacks.

Patrick Dangerfield didn’t have his usual impact against the Bombers. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Scott again put his players on notice, warning he was not afraid to make the tough call on a credentialed player if their form was not up to finals standard.

“We have some highly rated players who aren’t in the 22 right at the moment,” Scott said.

“Form will play a big part going into the end of the year.

“Every team who’s going to play finals is prioritising playing their best when it really counts.

“So if we’ve got some players with good credentials that are out of form, they’re going to be under pressure, because we’ve got an obligation to make sure we do the right thing by the team.”

REPORT: CATS SMASH BOMBERS

2017: LING BLASTS CATS OVER HANDLING OF BARTEL’S FUTURE

The Cats generated 58 inside 50 entries but failed to convert a raft of regulation chances that would have helped beef out their percentage as the top-four squeeze intensifies.

Tom Hawkins was unstoppable when isolated one-on-one deep in the forward line, clunking six contested marks for the game, but his radar was off and he finished with 3.4.

“Every shot you miss it’s obviously a chance gone begging, with the margin being really important to us,” Scott said.

“That was the disappointing part. Look, it wasn’t a disaster, but it wasn’t an outrageous success either.”

Steven Motlop celebrates a remarkable banana goal but the Cats wasted too many opportunities. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Scott pointed to Adelaide’s 138-point dismantling of the Lions as proof that his side could not use the opposition as an excuse for failing to play at its best.

“Adelaide didn’t seem to have too much trouble last night,” he said.

“As you say, it’s very competitive, if we want to compete with those sides we’ve got to take the chances when they present.

“We’re in the fortunate position right at the moment where we have players in good form at the lower level and good availability.

“It really goes without saying that competition for spots is going to be fierce and if you’re not playing well, you’re at risk of losing your spot and it only takes a cursory glance at the ladder to realise that it’s pretty tight.

“The small things are going to potentially make a big difference at the end of the year.”

Originally published as Chris Scott says Geelong didn’t play finals-standard football and was beaten in the midfield by Essendon