Certified Legendary Thread 2 x Premiership Coach Chris Scott contracted to 2026 (aka the Chris Scott volumes

[Footy Smarts]

"Teams get out played. Coaches don't get out coached" - I think Leigh has this one wrong

And if as a coaching group you're noticing tactical gaps during play, and if when addressing the players about those concerns & changes that may be required they decide to ignore the coach - what's that say about the relationship between the coach and players...

I think Leigh has it wrong. But he's also right that players don't always do what the coach wants them to. Plenty of players just aren't that smart and don't understand the nuances of the game especially when they're asked to do stuff different to normal.

I think the beauty of our game style at the moment is its simplicity. It didn't need to really be changed in the wet beyond small tinkering with simpler ball use.

The basics are:

1. Pressure like hell around the ball with half forwards pushing up.
2. Keep our structure defensively usually with an extra.
3. When we win it back take any opportunity to go forward immediately and outwork our opponents back into our open forward line.

 

[Catsace]

Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

i reckon is such a fantastic coach because he is able to always get total buy-in from the group over many years. It's not easy to front up time and again for many years after finals disapppintments. Look how often a side might be up for 4-5 years, but if not snatching a flag, fall right away again.

Chris has always maintained a message with our players that we can always contend. The continued enthusiasm from our players, now especially the younger ones, only great coaches can keep that going. And now in his 14th season at the club we're 6-0 and in it again. He has driven a culture of always wanting to win, and do that with development too. A rare combo and how thankful we are to have him lead our Cats!

 

[thecatattack]

For mine top players win flags not coaches . We got Cameron and we got the flag in 22 . Barassi who was a legendary flag winning coach , went back to his original club Melb in 81 , his 1st year their they won one game for the year , beat Footscray by a single point , so they nearly lost all 22 games for the year - he just didnt have the playing talent their . Look at Clarkson at NM , no joy whatsoever

Your comment about Thompson , changing the club , for mine the change came when Blight came in , in the 70s Geel for the most part were hopeless , in the 80s apart from 2 very strong years under Billy Goggin , the Cats were hopeless , frustrating and inconsistent

Since 89 when Blight was appointed , Geel have been very consistent with the best win /loss record in the comp , and a very strong club

FWIW Premierships give every supporter of any club tremendous joy , however as a measure of excellence i think they are way overrated

The last 2 years Coll in 23 and Geel in 22 , they have been terribly weak years , there is no genuine heavyweight that you have to knock over

You say Thompson in 2007 , Geel played Pt Ade , in 89 Geel played Haw , it is chalk and cheese mate

I definitely don't agree with the Bomber and Blight part. Blight may have fielded a strong and competitive team but Bomber was part of the revolution that changed this club forever. We were a rabble in the late 90s, to the point we had to field a membership campaign to get members where the tagline was "don't let us become the next Fitzroy". Costa became president in 98, Cook CEO in 99 and Bomber coach in 00. They're the 3 catalysts of our change.

His part of that has had a bigger impact than any coach that has come through this club IMO. Scott is just feeding off of it in his own and great way.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

"Teams get out played. Coaches don't get out coached" - I think Leigh has this one wrong

Of course it's wrong. Why have coaches then? Why turf out coaches and put the big money to guys like Clarkson, Hardwick and Lyon?

If it's not a gameday coaching thing, then it's a drilling and development thing, or it's a communication thing, or it's a relationship thing, or it's a selection thing, all of which are components of the coaching operation.

We don't have the most talented team, but we make use of our assets very well, and we did it again in the wet. Played the conditions beautifully and gave our smalls the best chances to succeed.

 

[PhilX]

This thread has 5 previous volumes of 10000 or more posts each.

Its been a long road to this point and I don think there is anyone posting here that hasnt, at some point, said he was done.

Today, I imagine its difficult to find anyone wanting him gone.

How things can change and evolve given time.

Go Catters

I've never been convinced he's definitely done, mostly because I didn't think we'd keep him on out of pure stubbornness.

But there was certainly a time when it seemed to me that we'd tried everything, that a change at that top was all that was left to do, and I didn't understand the reasoning for doing otherwise.

 

[No Quarter]

I don't really subscribe to the fact that you can say just because of what we have done in 6 weeks means we'll be a high chance of a flag. I think I'm burned by the decent amount of years where we looked good but fell short.

In any case, I was listening to SEN last week and Gary asked Tim what club they would want to play at right now if they were playing - and Gaz said the Cats - reflecting how good an operation the team is and how Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

goes about it.

A flag does the trick, hey?

Because if we'd not won 22, this thread wouldn't be the hive of positivity it is now days

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Because if we'd not won 22, this thread wouldn't be the hive of positivity it is now days

That's only natural though. Collingwood are still upbeat because they won it last year. My Hawthorn... acquaintances... are still insufferable because of 2008 let alone the threepeat.

That's the nature of things. Success makes people happy for some weird reason, hey?

 

[Vdubs]

Yeah I agree it's great what's happening. Is it a better effort than the back to back teams on 1951-52 that were a rebuilding club (literally) and had to travel down the highway every second week while every other club stayed home in Melbourne.

Or the 1800s team that won 6 flags, probably having to get a horse and cart up to Melbourne (I dunno) and also a much thinner talent pool in Geelong than Melbourne back then.

The mid 1920s to late 1930s were one of the strongest eras in footy history and we racked up 3. flags.

Bomber had to break a 44 year drought that was bringing the club and the community down.

Every era had it's struggles and merit in what they achieved. They should all be respected.

Recency bias....it's rampant.

I'm not basing it only on results, flags etc. Total package.

 

[canny30]

I don't really subscribe to the fact that you can say just because of what we have done in 6 weeks means we'll be a high chance of a flag. I think I'm burned by the decent amount of years where we looked good but fell short.

In any case, I was listening to SEN last week and Gary asked Tim what club they would want to play at right now if they were playing - and Gaz said the Cats - reflecting how good an operation the team is and how Chris Scott goes about it.

A flag does the trick, hey?

Because if we'd not won 22, this thread wouldn't be the hive of positivity it is now days

Facts

 

[dazbroncos]

How the Cats are making Champion Data change the way they analyse the game

“We don't have to worry about that anymore.”

www.sen.com.au

This is a great listen.

Champion Data has had to change their rating and benchmark system bc of what Geelong and CS does with its players.

I could GAF about CD and their rankings - but listen to what they say about CS and the players versatility.

Because CS has so many players that are versatile, they can switch positions thru the game, or week to week depending on what role they are needed to fill.

Its interesting and relevant here because of the 40000 + posts in these threads there are 37% ( totally made up stat from Daz Mod Data) that cried out against CS in the earlier days making players play roles and positions seemingly foreign to them.

Yet now after a second flag, the main statistical organisation working for the competition has come out and said CS and Geelongs players have made them redfine the way the use metrics to measure their positional performance.

Imagine trying to coach against it.

Oppo game filmm time now doubles bc you have to cover Atkins in the MF... and now the HBF.
BLitz... good ****ing luck there.
Duncan - HBF and wing.

Jezza - one out at FF? Nope... his in the guts, now he's gut running the length of the ground.

(To be fair... even Jezza has admitted he doesn't know what he's doing so how do you coach against it lmao. )

But you gotta give CS credit here for over the years sticking with the broad strokes of diversification in players as its given people headaches both in the oppo coaches box and now the Stats department too.

Meanwhile Sam Mitchell is calling for mouth guards at training and Clarko ( the best in the AFL era apparently ) can rub 2 sticks together and get a win in 30 games.

GO Catters

 

[Gunf]

How the Cats are making Champion Data change the way they analyse the game

“We don't have to worry about that anymore.”

www.sen.com.au

This is a great listen.

Champion Data has had to change their rating and benchmark system bc of what Geelong and CS does with its players.

I could GAF about CD and their rankings - but listen to what they say about CS and the players versatility.

Because CS has so many players that are versatile, they can switch positions thru the game, or week to week depending on what role they are needed to fill.

Its interesting and relevant here because of the 40000 + posts in these threads there are 37% ( totally made up stat from Daz Mod Data) that cried out against CS in the earlier days making players play roles and positions seemingly foreign to them.

Yet now after a second flag, the main statistical organisation working for the competition has come out and said CS and Geelongs players have made them redfine the way the use metrics to measure their positional performance.

Imagine trying to coach against it.

Oppo game filmm time now doubles bc you have to cover Atkins in the MF... and now the HBF.
BLitz... good ******* luck there.
Duncan - HBF and wing.

Jezza - one out at FF? Nope... his in the guts, now he's gut running the length of the ground.

(To be fair... even Jezza has admitted he doesn't know what he's doing so how do you coach against it lmao. )

But you gotta give CS credit here for over the years sticking with the broad strokes of diversification in players as its given people headaches both in the oppo coaches box and now the Stats department too.

Meanwhile Sam Mitchell is calling for mouth guards at training and Clarko ( the best in the AFL era apparently ) can rub 2 sticks together and get a win in 30 games.

GO Catters

I love the fact that Jezza just goes out and plays almost high school friends football by doing what he wants when he wants until Scott tells him to play a certain role..
He must love being payed almost a mil to just go have fun.

 

[standupand]

I love the fact that Jezza just goes out and plays almost high school friends football by doing what he wants when he wants until Scott tells him to play a certain role..
He must love being payed almost a mil to just go have fun.

It frustrated the hell out of me early days with Jezza because he would do ridiculous things like run around everywhere, looking for free possessions in the middle, back with the flight directly into the path of leading forwards like Hawkins and stuff. But I see the beauty of it much more these days.

The quote from Matthews - "players don't always do what the coach tells them to do", Scott actually manages to turn this into a strength not a weakness. He breaks that mould and it comes from treating the players as individuals with the intelligence to adapt to in-game circumstances without instruction. So a player like Jezza who is a "don't burden me with too much instruction" kind of player seems to fits just as perfectly into this system as a Blicavs who I think of as a "do just about anything the coach will ask" kind of player.

I used to be of the mind that every player in the team had to basically be a role-player. Know your role - take your turn - help the team. That's the way you win football.

But Scott is a bit more free-thinking than that. He seems to want to know what each player brings that is a unique skill-set and to try to maximise those unique skills in the adaptability of the team formations.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

It frustrated the hell out of me early days with Jezza because he would do ridiculous things like run around everywhere, looking for free possessions in the middle, back with the flight directly into the path of leading forwards like Hawkins and stuff. But I see the beauty of it much more these days.

The quote from Matthews - "players don't always do what the coach tells them to do", Scott actually manages to turn this into a strength not a weakness. He breaks that mould and it comes from treating the players as individuals with the intelligence to adapt to in-game circumstances without instruction. So a player like Jezza who is a "don't burden me with too much instruction" kind of player seems to fits just as perfectly into this system as a Blicavs who I think of as a "do just about anything the coach will ask" kind of player.

I used to be of the mind that every player in the team had to basically be a role-player. Know your role - take your turn - help the team. That's the way you win football.

But Scott is a bit more free-thinking than that. He seems to want to know what each player brings that is a unique skill-set and to try to maximise those unique skills in the adaptability of the team formations.

100%.
He plays to every players individual strengths and their personality but is able to bring that together into a cohesive well managed and well drilled team.
That kind of thing seems almost impossible but he's done it the entire time he's been coach.
Sure success brings accolades, and 2022 has validated much for him, but he's simply a coaching genius and IMO ahead of his time in terms of man/squad management.
The positive there is it's also incredibly hard to coach against or break because you aren't relying on some new "system" (like the hawks flag years or even the bomber led cats), but simply a man who is probably the greatest adaptive coach the AFL has ever seen.

 

[Vdubs]

I definitely don't agree with the Bomber and Blight part. Blight may have fielded a strong and competitive team but Bomber was part of the revolution that changed this club forever. We were a rabble in the late 90s, to the point we had to field a membership campaign to get members where the tagline was "don't let us become the next Fitzroy". Costa became president in 98, Cook CEO in 99 and Bomber coach in 00. They're the 3 catalysts of our change.

His part of that has had a bigger impact than any coach that has come through this club IMO. Scott is just feeding off of it in his own and great way.

In went to that Sunday afternoon meeting, and it persuaded me to buy ongoing family memberships ever since. Benny Graham's commitment to the club as captain and Mr Fixit at both ends- he tried anyway- is a bit underrated too.

 

[Warhorse]

Another master-class from the coach. Lost the inside 50s 66-45, used Hawkins as a decoy. Carlton friends trying to work out on who to point the finger at for the loss. Another brilliant day in the coaches box

 

[Catsace]

Posted this on the stats thread, but thought this is pretty notable an observation for the Cats under Scott.......

Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

now has seven actual runs of seven wins in a row (and if I can channel Rogers results here) it would be 24 times of seven wins in a row when you factor in the 13 games he started with, the 16 in a row in the 2022 Flag run, and two runs of 8 in a row.

So it's three actual 7's in a row including today's, two 8 in a row which is 2 x 2 runs of 7, seven 7's in a row for the 13-0 start in 2011, and 10 7's in a row for the 16 in a row in 2022.

Wouldn't be too many other coaches who could claim that sort of success with winning runs of seven or more?

Bomber had a bunch too, as runs of 15, 12, 15 is 9 + 6 + 9, and I think we had a good run in 2004 too.

But as fans we've seen seven separate runs of seven or more wins in a row over his career as coach. Great times for us Cat fans, these last two decades have been.

 

[Mattlock]

I guess this is a credit to the wider coaching group as well, but the team is just so well drilled. Skill level, speed of ball movement and structuring are all excellent things that have clearly been taught, practiced and implemented.

 

[dazbroncos]

Like BP.. the quiet achiever.... CS is taking this team, again, on a ride.

He aint gonna win them all, but at 7-0 is adding to the 73% win loss record for all games.

Outstanding record and in the period of unprecedented equalisation a master class.

GO Catters

 

[Gunf]

Like BP.. the quiet achiever.... CS is taking this team, again, on a ride.

He aint gonna win them all, but at 7-0 is adding to the 73% win loss record for all games.

Outstanding record and in the period of unprecedented equalisation a master class.

GO Catters

The only 2 flags i truly feel like we missed out on are 2013 and 2016 for different reasons

16 if we didn't shit the bed against Sydney early and made it to the GF against the Dogs we would have 100% won i think

The rest we weren't the best team in it by far. I look back at some of the teams we fielded between 2016-19 and wonder how the **** we managed to get so far and then i think ahh right Dangerwood and Scott

 

[Gavin Excell]

Interesting Scott's presser after the Carlton game where he said setting up to score slingshot from the backline like yesterday isn't by design

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Interesting Scott's presser after the Carlton game where he said setting up to score slingshot from the backline like yesterday isn't by design

We still WANT to win it first, it just so happens our secondary scoring advance is from turnovers through the middle/half back line, and our defenders are holding up brilliantly so far this year.
But (and I HATE when people go on about plan A and plan B and all that...) plan A is absolutely win it first.
Great signs that we aren't, yet still winning.

 

[PhatBoy]

We still WANT to win it first, it just so happens our secondary scoring advance is from turnovers through the middle/half back line, and our defenders are holding up brilliantly so far this year.
But (and I HATE when people go on about plan A and plan B and all that...) plan A is absolutely win it first.
Great signs that we aren't, yet still winning.

I think there is a degree of concession in his coaching:

Ok here is what we want to do if we can - win the ball at the centre and move it forward as any team would, using our preferred method. But realistically we don’t have the midfield that most other contenders do so this is what our main strength is so let’s make a focus of it and use it to our advantage


What I am absolutely stoked to see at the moment is that we are #1 in the comp for tackles and #3 for pressure. Stats don’t always mean a lot but these are areas we aren’t often that great at - pure effort areas and in the absence of some class in the middle we are absolutely giving it to teams when they have the ball and it’s great

 

[cats_09]

Anyone want to argue this isn't deserved...

Cats induct three into Hall of Fame

Geelong will officially induct three new members into the Club’s Hall of Fame.

www.geelongcats.com.au

 

[David the Cat]

Anyone want to argue this isn't deserved...

View attachment 1982999

Cats induct three into Hall of Fame

Geelong will officially induct three new members into the Club’s Hall of Fame.

www.geelongcats.com.au

argue its not deserved? Hardly Pygmalion likely...those that might think that, are hiding under rocks somewhere....how it must stick in a few "pundits" craw.

I cannot deny a sense of satisfaction that those people are no longer resident on this Board.

The discourse on this Board is now so superior to what it was 4 or 5 years ago and each of you out there should give yourself a pat on the back for contributing to the vast improvement in commentary published on this Board.

I dont agree with everything put forward here, but at least there is substance to the arguments put forward in most cases and argument is most often replied to in a civil and respectful way.

Thank you for contributing to the quality this Board now presents.

Long may it last.

 

[Catman]

I think there is a degree of concession in his coaching:

Ok here is what we want to do if we can - win the ball at the centre and move it forward as any team would, using our preferred method. But realistically we don’t have the midfield that most other contenders do so this is what our main strength is so let’s make a focus of it and use it to our advantage


What I am absolutely stoked to see at the moment is that we are #1 in the comp for tackles and #3 for pressure. Stats don’t always mean a lot but these are areas we aren’t often that great at - pure effort areas and in the absence of some class in the middle we are absolutely giving it to teams when they have the ball and it’s great

This mindset change started at the beginning of the 2022 pre-season. Scotty said as much in the shows documenting the flag that they decided to focus on what we CAN do, and less on what we CAN'T.

You could argue why weren't we doing that before? Much comes down to personnel. If you haven't got the cattle to play a certain way, then what's the point? Having a fit Jezza, the addition of Tyson and the further improvement of many of our younger, lesser lights (Close, Miers, Atkins, SDK, etc) all contributed to that change.

There's no doubt the coaching changes at the end of 2021 were crucial too. Many had been calling for a change for years, but we as a club remained loyal, to a fault arguably, to the long standing coaching group that had overseen year after year of failed finals series.