Geelong are outside the eight in a dogfight to make the AFL finals after their 11-point loss to Hawthorn, but a defiant Chris Scott is confident the Cats can still do some damage in September.
In another thrilling instalment of their storied rivalry, the Cats trailed the Hawks by 26 points at three-quarter time at the MCG on Saturday but slashed the margin to eight points with eight minutes left.
However, young Hawthorn star Jaeger O'Meara sealed the 10.11 (71) to 8.12 (60) win in front of 59,529 fans by kicking the last goal of the day with just under a minute remaining.
It was the second week running Geelong finished strongly without getting the premiership points, having gone down to Richmond by just three points in round 20.
Scott admitted the result made it harder for his side to make the finals, but added there is as lot to play out before the top eight is decided.
"I've probably done the ladder predictor 500 times, but it doesn't matter - our responsibility is to make sure that we play as well as we possibly can this week and next week," Scott said.
"That's what I would have been saying if we had won this one.
"If we qualify for the (finals) tournament at the end of the year the ladder positions might be irrelevant, especially when it comes to fifth playing eighth.
"Our priority has just got to be to play as well as we can ... we're in OK form but I'm confident we play a lot better."
Former Geelong greats Billy Brownless and Jimmy Bartel lashed the performance.
Scott conceded the Cats can't afford to continue leaving their best form for late in games.
"The simple answer is that we're searching," he said.
"We would like to play more like the way we have in the last quarter against Melbourne, Richmond and (Hawthorn).
"But even if I had the answer I'm not going to go into detail with the possibility of finals upon us and being a very strong chance that we might play this opposition again."
The Cats lost ruckman Rhys Stanley to the return of a calf injury in the second quarter.
He will undergo scans but appears set for a stint on the sidelines.
Share
