It couldn’t have started the season any better, but Geelong coach Chris Scott has admitted what everyone else knows – his team’s run between now and the end of May will give a better indication of where it stands in the AFL pecking order.
The Cats are 5-0 against teams that occupy five of the bottom eight spots on the ladder, including winless pair Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
Of its next six opponents, only the Brisbane Lions, which Geelong faces on Saturday night at the Gabba, is outside the top eight heading into Round 6.
“We feel like we’re playing OK, but you look around the competition and there’s so many good teams that we haven’t played yet,” Scott said.
“And that’s going to be rectified in the next 4-6 weeks, so we’ll have a bit of a clearer picture.
“But, I think you know from listening to me before, I don’t subscribe to this idea ‘that these two weeks are going to be an audit on, sort of, how good you can be’.
“The competition, I suspect, is naturally going to ebb and flow, and teams are going to work within that.
“Our challenge is not to get up on your toes too much because we haven’t lost a game yet.
“But, if we lose a few here and there, then we also shouldn’t drop our bundles.”
Geelong will welcome back captain Patrick Dangerfield following a three-week layoff with a hamstring issue, and key forward Tom Hawkins and defender Jake Kolodjashnij after both were managed out of the win over the Roos.
Shannon Neale made the most of his chance as the replacement for Hawkins by kicking three goals, leaving Scott and his coaching staff to ponder whether this is the week to play him in combination with Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.
“We will play Hawkins, Cameron and Neale in the same team at some point,” Scott said.
“Obviously, the way we think about ruckman builds into that conversation as well.
“We’re really pleased with the way he (Neale) played, and it would be our preference to keep going with him.”
After getting through his return from a back issue unscathed, Gary Rohan will travel to Brisbane, but instead of being at the Gabba, he will head to the Lions’ training complex for Geelong’s VFL game.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if it comes pretty quick from here,” Scott said.
“But, again, he’s one of those sort of guys that goes into that mix where we want to consider a big squad of players.
“We are not thinking, ‘when he’s fully fit, he plays in this spot. And the guy that’s in that spot goes out of the team for a month’.
“That’s not the way we’re thinking about it.”
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