Clubs, not the AFL, should decide where home games are played: Scott

CHRIS Scott wants clubs to control where all their home games are fixtured after Geelong hosted Hawthorn at the MCG — not Simonds Stadium — and only just escaped.

Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott says clubs should have full control of where their home fixtures are played. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

CHRIS Scott wants clubs to control where all their home games are fixtured after Geelong hosted Hawthorn at the MCG — and not Simonds Stadium — and escaped with another nailbiting victory.

Hawthorn star Isaac Smith’s kick to win the game drifted wide in the final seconds as Geelong improved its remarkable record in games decided by less than two goals to 16-2-2 since 2013.

The Cats prevailed in similar nature in Round 14, when Fremantle’s Michael Walters missed a hurried snap with the final kick of the day.

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Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott says clubs should have full control of where their home fixtures are played. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

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Scott said the Cats sit “on the very fortunate side of lucky” after they rose to the top of the ladder before last night’s games.

They should regain late withdrawals Scott Selwood (hamstring) and Andrew Mackie (wrist) for Friday night’s top-four blockbuster against Adelaide, but former Crow Patrick Dangerfield is in doubt with a sore foot.

The Cats have not played the Hawks at Simonds Stadium since 2006.

A crowd of 70,345 piled in for Hawk champion Luke Hodge’s 300th game yesterday, more than double the capacity of Geelong’s fortress.

Joel Selwood had a blinder as the Cats rose to top of the ladder... for now. Picture: AAP

The Cats have lobbied the AFL for a possible home final against a non-Victorian club at their redeveloped venue, but have been given no guarantees.

“Leave Geelong out of it. For the integrity of the game, every team in the competition should be able to decide where they play their 11 home games,” Scott said yesterday.

“That’s pretty simple, isn’t it, when it comes to integrity?”

The AFL often looks to maximise attendances when scheduling games, but Scott said locking out fans should not be factored in.

“Commercially, the club would like to play in Geelong,” he said.

“If there’s been any confusion about that let’s nip it in the bud.”

Patrick Dangerfield shook off injury to have a blinder against the Hawks. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

This season they were granted seven games at Simonds Stadium – against five non-Victorian clubs, the Tigers (for the first time since 2012) and Western Bulldogs.

Scott credited both clubs for delivering another cracking contest during “transition” periods and fielding plenty of youngsters.

Only five players from the 2008 Grand Final, where the fierce rivalry was born, played yesterday.

Scott praised Smith for generating the chance to win the game, as he did in last year’s qualifying final.

The Cats sent Mark Blicavs to Tom Michell after his blistering start. Mitchell had won 22 disposals and kicked two goals just five minutes into the second quarter.

“He was the dominant player on the ground early (and) learly we had to do something … or we were going to lose the game,” Scott said.

“It’s quite rare that you see a 198cm player (Blicavs) running with such a good inside, ground-level player.

Harry Taylor gives the hands during the Cats’ win over the Hawks. Picture: AAP

“We’ve had close games where we’ve thought, ‘Gee, we played poorly’. I didn’t think that was one of those.

“It was two good teams that played the way they wanted to for reasonable parts of the game.

“In such a close competition we consider ourselves fortunate to be where we are, and acknowledge that that momentum or luck probably will turn at some point.

“When that happens we’ve just got to hang in there and keep pushing forward.”