Coach Chris Scott promises a forensic examination of Geelong’s post-bye curse, now into an eighth AFL season.
The Cats lost after a bye for the eighth consecutive year when pipped by Port Adelaide by 12 points on Saturday night.
Scott wants answers – not just to the post-bye flops, but also why his ladder-leaders were a shell of themselves against the Power.
“The performance wasn’t reflective of the way we have played during the season so that is what we need to … have a really good look at,” Scott said post-match.
“Why didn’t it look like us?
“The 12 point margin flattered us in the extreme.
“We were just beaten by a better team tonight, I’m not prepared to concede that they’re a better team in general.
“But we didn’t play well and they completely outplayed us for the majority of the game.”
Scott said the impact of the post-bye losing syndrome was hard to gauge.
“What we have got is a problem in the moment, post-bye,” he said.
“Hopefully we’re good enough to get the chance to have a bye going into a finals series.
“There are things we have looked at, it’s not as if we’re ignoring it – it’s a fact.
“How relevant it is to the rest of our season is another question (but) it won’t stop us being forensic in our analysis of it.”
The Cats host fifth-placed Adelaide next Friday night.
“I expect our guys to respond,” Scott said.
“We’re a different team but if you look at the individuals who have been around a while, they have a pretty strong history of when they put in a performance that they’re not proud of, that they bounce back and play well (the next game).”