AFL 2024: Geelong coach Chris Scott claims Rhys Stanley sub call wasn’t because of his performance as Tom Hawkins to miss clash against Gold Coast

Rhys Stanley being subbed out in the second quarter raised eyebrows. The Cats shed light on the move and reveal whether Tom Hawkins will make the trip to Darwin next week.

Oisin Mullin was subbed into the game. Picture: Getty Images

Geelong coach Chris Scott has claimed that pulling Rhys Stanley out of the game in the second quarter in their loss to Port Adelaide had nothing to with his output, labelling it as an “aggressive move”.

Stanley was tactically subbed out of the match with a modest 10 hit-outs and three handballs from 40 minutes of gametime against fourth-game Port Adelaide ruckman Dante Visentini.

It came as Scott confirmed that spearhead Tom Hawkins will be rested for the Cats’ trip to Darwin to face Gold Coast despite breaking his four-game goalkicking drought.

With the game slipping away, the Cats opted to inject the speed of Irishman Oisin Mullin into the game and play versatile utility Mark Blicavs – who finished with 20 hit-outs, 14 disposals, five tackles and five clearances – as their number one ruckman.

Scott believed the move was effective overall.

Rhys Stanley was subbed out of the game. Picture: Fox Footy

“It was difficult, but what we weren’t going to do was sit on our hands. We thought it was a really aggressive move and it would be a risky move if the scoreboard was closer but the game had already got away from us,” Scott said.

“We thought we need to act urgently and it was nothing to do with the way Rhys was playing, it was more some of the other changes we wanted to make. On balance we thought it worked.”

Mullin started at the next centre bounce after taking the field and was given the difficult job of curtailing the red-hot Port Adelaide star Jason Horne-Francis, who was the best player on the ground to that point.

In just his ninth AFL game, Mullin helped stem his influence somewhat as Horne-Francis won 11-second half possessions and just two clearances, compared to the five he won to halftime.

Scott lauded the role played by Mullin and conceded they were was unable to stop Horne-Francis early on.

The Cats coach believes the top pick from the 2021 draft was the major reason behind the Power’s scoring surge from stoppage – scoring five goals to one from that source in the opening term.

Oisin Mullin impressed Chris Scott. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I think the credit should go to, in particular, Horne-Francis. He was the dominant player on the ground in that period and everyone could see it, and we just couldn’t stop it early enough,” Scott said.

“That was frustrating and annoying for us because we should have been better. The other side was Mullin coming into the game, really early, looked like a Geelong player to me.

“That’s a hard job that one, ‘we’re going to sub you into the game early, hottest player in the game, is on fire, can you just cool him down a little bit?’

“For a guy who was overseas a couple of weeks ago and in Ireland a couple of years before that is a really good sign for our future.”

Max Holmes copped a kick to the shin but played on, with his influence late in the game filling Scott with confidence that he will recover.

But Scott said Hawkins will miss, which had been pre-planned by the club.

After equalling Joel Selwood’s 355 games on Friday night, it means the Cats champion is set to break Geelong’s games record against Greater Western Sydney at GMHBA Stadium in a fortnight.

“I think he is going physically pretty well,” Scott said.

“He is still such an important player for us.

“If we survey opponents whether they want him to play or not, most would say not. That’s still the way I look at it, and again I thought he had some really nice moments as the game went on as well.”

Scott was also pleased by Gary Rohan’s first full game in the seniors, where he kicked two goals and five score involvements and produced some eye-catching moments.

“We thought early on he was looking really dangerous and was keeping us in it to an extent. As much as anything when I look at Gary I am looking for those really dynamic moments to inform me as to whether he is near his best or not, and that’s what I saw tonight,” he said.

“It was less for me about his performance in this game and more what that point to in the next month or two. I think there were good signs there.”

Originally published as AFL 2024: Geelong coach Chris Scott claims Rhys Stanley sub call wasn’t because of his performance as Tom Hawkins to miss clash against Gold Coast