There are plenty of talking points to come out of Round 12 of the AFL, with Chris Scott's post-match press conference ruffling a few feathers.
Let's get to this week's overreactions column, where we judge the biggest takeaways as legitimate or irrational.
Chris Scott has been telling porkies in his pressers
Geelong coach Chris Scott could walk away from footy tomorrow and depart with one of the sport's all-time great legacies. Twenty-seven years of service as a player and a coach. Two premierships as a player. Two premierships as a coach. A winning percentage of 68.41 as a coach, better than anyone in the history of the game with at least 126 games under their belt. But are a few cheeky white lies creeping into his repertoire?
Verdict: Overreaction (?)
Scott's post-game comments after Geelong's narrow loss to Carlton on Friday night were a touch strange. The fact the Blues had now beaten the Cats in four out of the pair's last five games (five out of six times if you include this year's preseason game at Ikon Park!) was mentioned to Scott during his press conference, to which he promptly replied: "have they? Four out of the last five?!"
The Cats coach then looked skyward with a perplexed look splashed across his face, pondering in disbelief what many would view as a footy anomaly.
"I think I've said this before, I don't buy it," said Scott. "We don't look back to games four years ago and say 'remember that one when we had a completely different team'. I think those things are a bit more real when you just get smacked by a team over and over again. The four-out-of-five bit, I actually didn't know it. That's an indication of how much time I spend on it. We look at the last couple of times, maybe. I reckon once you go back more than last season you are in ancient history territory."
Granted, I'm speculating here, but surely Scott would have known this? Surely at some point during the week it would have been mentioned and absorbed into his brain. Again, I can't say this with 100% certainty, but it feels close to impossible he wouldn't be aware.
If Scott was indeed telling a little porkie, it's ironic that it was delivered literally 90 seconds after claiming: "we are quite strong with our players. Don't lie." This comment came when discussing player honesty around calling for score reviews, a thread which stemmed from Oliver Dempsey's non-goal in the opening minutes of the game.
If he's not foxing, and legitimately had no idea the Blues have had the wood over his club for three-and-a-half years, then perhaps we need to question his gameday preparation. Perhaps it's worth looking at that "ancient history" and maybe asking Champion Data what it is Carlton continues to do so well against his side.
-- Jake Michaels
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