Their ball use was horrible and Paul Chapman is on report but coach Chris Scott is confident Geelong showed enough in their win over Port Adelaide to suggest they can topple Hawthorn in next weekend’s AFL preliminary final.
Geelong ended Port Adelaide’s fairytale run from 14th last season into week two of the 2013 finals by overcoming a 23-point deficit at halftime to win 13.18 (96) to 12.8 (80) at the MCG on Friday night.
The 31-year-old Chapman booted a game-high four goals and had 20 disposals in front of a crowd of over 52,000.
However his high bump on Port’s Robbie Gray during the third term could result in a one-match ban for the 251-game veteran, depending on Monday’s report from the match review panel.
“I’m told that there’s something that will be looked at. I don’t make a habit of going into detail about those sort of incidents anyway even if I had seen it,” Scott said.
“Every man and his dog is going to have an opinion on it. We’ll bite our tongue.
“He’d be a loss. I hope Chappy’s a part of it. If he’s not we’ll move on.
“If he misses — one thing we won’t do is cry over spilt milk.
“The bottom line is we’re in a prelim we’ll have 22 players who are playing really good footy because we do have a number of them on the sidelines who can come into our team and we’ll give it a really good shake.”
Geelong kicked 10 goals to Port’s five in the second half.
“I am (confident) based on the second half,” Scott said.
The Hawks are in the box seat because of their good form and having a week’s rest, Scott said.
“But our best footy is pretty good and challenge the best. We’ll give it a shake next week.”
Scott hopes Geelong’s 11-game winning streak over Hawthorn since the 2008 grand final counts for something, but he doubts it.
“I reckon it’s BS to be honest. Who cares who the pressure’s on,” he said.
“I hope the Hawks players are really concerned about it.
“But I’d be surprised.”
Asked if he believed in the Kennett Curse, named after former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett who had boasted his club had a mental edge over the Cats, Scott said: “Evidently no. I hope it’s real though.”
Geelong had a 65-39 advantage in inside-50 entries against Port but kicked 13.18.
“Our kicking? Yeah, horrible,” Scott said.
Defenders Jared Rivers (ankle) and Corey Enright (knee) are in doubt for the Hawthorn clash.