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Geelong upstaged Collingwood on the opening Friday night fixture of 2019, outhunting them at the contest and out pressuring them when they didn’t have the ball.
The Cats made a statement when they chose not to offer Daniel Menzel another deal at the end of last year, choosing to add pressure applying forwards instead.
That’s why they recruited Gary Rohan from Sydney and Luke Dahlhaus from the Western Bulldogs, and that’s why they plucked Tom Atkins out of their VFL side and plonked him inside their Round 1 team.
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While Tim Kelly and Tom Stewart starred in the seven-point win at the MCG, it was the six new additions that made Geelong a far more menacing outfit to the won that limped out of the finals in the first week of last September.
Dahlhaus was the pick of the bunch of the fresh faces, collecting 24 touches, six tackles and 47 pressure acts in his first game in the hoops. Rohan chased and harassed all night, finishing with 36 pressure acts.
Atkins and Gryan Miers laid five tackles and three in their debuts, while also looking composed in the forward half.
And then there was the addition of standout juniors Jordan Clark — last year’s Pick 15 — and Charlie Constable, who was forced to bide his time in the VFL last year before finally getting a crack.
“We as a collective in our football club were really proud of them,” Scott said in his post-match press conference on Friday night.
“We thought they all executed their role as we thought they would. It wasn’t a great surprise to us that they delivered in terms of their role, that’s why we picked them. But one of the really pleasing things was they didn’t look overawed by the occasion.
“Not many young players get the opportunity on a Friday night in a big game against Collingwood at three-quarter time to actually contribute to a win. Hopefully that will give them confidence.”
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Scott said the Cats knew they had to match the Magpies’ relentless pressure if they were going to head back down the highway with a win in the bank — and that’s what they did.
“The pressure was pretty good, and we knew that is Collingwood’s brand to an extent — there are other parts to it as well, they are quite a complete football team at the moment,” he said.
“But if we made it a game where we just tried to deal with their pressure and didn’t pressure them the other way we would probably get beaten.
“So there is a few things in it; the shift in personnel; I don’t talk about effort much as a coach but I really saw it today; I’m of the view that AFL footballers give their best every time they go out there but there are degrees.”
“I thought it was right at the end of the spectrum in terms of the effort and the intensity that we brought at the contest.”