Geelong coach Chris Scott on Bailey Smith’s fine, late changes

Geelong coach Chris Scott has addressed the fine handed down to star Bailey Smith for flipping a bird to a fan and the Cats use of late changes saying he “doesn’t care” what people think.

Chris Scott says players should not be fined. Photo: AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Geelong coach Chris Scott says he believes players should not be fined in the wake of Bailey Smith’s sanction for flipping the bird at a fan following the win over Adelaide.

Cats star Smith, 24, was handed a $1000 fine for the incident by the AFL in which he said he was defending captain Patrick Dangerfield who was sledged by a Crows supporter.

Scott said the issue had been addressed internally with the club now turning its attention to the Easter Monday blockbuster with Hawthorn.

“I don’t like fines full stop so I’m the wrong person to ask,” Scott said.

“I don’t think players should get fined for anything. If they (the AFL) ask my opinion, I would say treat them like adults.

“The way we have handled it, and even then we didn’t need to impose ourselves too much on Bailey, because he voluntarily said time over again I won’t do it.

“If he does that seven times, we’ve got a huge problem.”

Bailey Smith flips the bird.

Scott appeared on Channel 9’s Footy Classified on Tuesday night where he addressed the big issues surrounding the Cats and the AFL in general.

One topic of conversation was the Cats’ late changes which have been a source of discussion among fans for some time.

In the last two games against Melbourne and the Crows, Mark Blicavs and Tom Stewart have been late withdrawals due to illness.

“I really don’t care what anyone thinks,” Scott said.

“And can I just have a little dig at people who bet on footy, I don’t really care about them.

“We tend to wait as long as we can. You get an hour before you need to select your team.

“But we don’t announce it until an hour before so sort of get used to that, we won’t change that. I can’t think of a time where we’ve deliberately tried to muck around.”

Mark Blicavs returned against the Crows. Photo: AFL Photos via Getty Images.

When asked about AFL coaches walking through the crowd, Scott hinted he would like to see a change to the current process.

He said he left the coaches box with 90 seconds remaining in last week’s game and could understand why supporters were “agitated” as they attempted to leave the ground.

Scott said security had blocked their path to allow him to make his way to the Cats bench.

“I don’t think it’s a good environment,” he said.

“Here’s a little clip for the AFL. They’re so conscious of behaviour that might incite unsavoury acts like coaches interacting with each other on the bench but they’re all for coaches walking through the crowd.

“It’s a little bit of a contradiction for me. Maybe they’re not all for it, maybe they just can’t come up with a better solution right at the moment.”

Originally published as Geelong coach Chris Scott on Bailey Smith’s fine, late changes