Geelong coach Chris Scott insists that no-one at the Cattery is more frustrated by the string of AFL suspensions incurred by Steve Johnson than the man himself.
Johnson picked up his third ban of the year this week, a single-game sanction for kneeing Melbourne's Nathan Jones.
While it rules him out of Sunday's away clash against Adelaide, Scott made it clear on Tuesday the club would not impose an additional financial penalty on their mercurial forward, as Carlton did earlier this year with another serial offender in Jarrad Waite.
"He's a 30-year-old professional athlete who's shown his commitment to this club over a long period of time," Scott said of Johnson.
"We don't fine players. We don't treat them like kids.
"... we're not a school here, he doesn't need to go to the principal's office.
"We all sit down regularly, every single day at the footy club, and talk about the issues as adults.
"Any discussion that he gets hauled into the office and berated by the leadership group and the coach is so far off the mark it's not funny."
And anyway, Scott is confident Johnson is fully aware he needs to make some changes - having also missed games in 2013 for punching Fremantle's Hayden Ballantyne and engaging in rough conduct against Brisbane's Pearce Hanley.
"He's no fool," said Scott.
"He's been a champion of the game and he's a very important part of our club.
"He understands the situation better than anyone, he doesn't need the media commentators or the so-called experts to reinforce how silly he's been.
"He will need to adjust, there's no question of that."
In better news for Geelong, another of their triple premiership stars in Paul Chapman will finally make his return from a long-running hamstring problem in the VFL on Friday night.
Chapman has only played four senior matches in 2013, the last of them in late April.
Scott is confident Chapman has plenty of time to break into the senior team before the finals, where he has the potential to be a massive wildcard for a team chasing its fourth flag in seven years.
"We will pick our best team for the finals based on a whole number of factors and on merit," said Scott.
"Chappy's history will count for a little bit, but it will only be a little bit.
"We've got some young players who are playing well at AFL level, and we've got to make sure we're not blinded by the big names when we decide who's best value to the team in that moment."
Forwards Allen Christensen (hamstring) and Mathew Stokes (groin) are in doubt for Sunday's clash with Crows.
Share
