Chris Scott isn’t concerned about Geelong’s easy run into the finals, having played teams in the bottom half of the ladder in the last six rounds

By Phoebe McWilliams at the MCG

Patrick Dangerfield leads his team off the ground after the match between Richmond and Geelong at MCG in round 24, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

GEELONG coach Chris Scott says he’s not concerned about his side’s easy run into finals after the Cats’ 39-point win over Richmond on Saturday afternoon.

It’s Geelong’s sixth win in a row, having come up against sides in the bottom half of the ladder across that time, with the Cats easily accounting for their opponents by an average margin of 58 points.

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“It’s not (a concern),” Scott said post-match.

“You couldn’t prove it even if you had a feeling that it was an issue. It’s one of those things that if it goes well, it’ll look like proof that it wasn’t an issue. And if it doesn’t, it’ll come up as an issue and no one will be able to prove it.

“I thought we played pretty well under pressure against the Swans who were pretty hot last week.

“I think you can analyse these things to death and still not come up with a very clear picture. So we’ll just play what’s in front of us.”

Geelong finishes second on the ladder and will host a home qualifying final in the first week. 

Scott was asked whether he would prefer the match to be played at the MCG or at GMHBA Stadium.

“I don’t have any opinion on what the AFL do,” Scott said.

“So I’ll repeat what I’ve said probably 100 times. I feel really strongly and we feel strongly as a club that clubs should get to choose where they play their 11 home games. And it’s up to the AFL to decide what they prioritise in finals.

“I think they’ve been quite clear that they have other priorities other than what would be logically fair. That’s their prerogative.”

In the final moments of Saturday’s game, an incident between Cats defender Tom Stewart and Tiger Maurice Rioli where Stewart makes high contact with the forward could catch the attention of  the Match Review Officer.

Scott was asked if he was concerned the contact might be sighted, but did not seem worried.

“Yeah, I saw it. Nothing in it,” Scott said.

Richmond coach Adem Yze confirmed that Rioli hadn’t been injured in the incident.

“Our boys got through unscathed, which is nice. We haven’t had many of those (games),” Yze said.

“I think we had a couple of injuries down at VFL level, but our AFL boys got through, which is nice.

“Gibbo’s (Josh Gibcus) substitution was just precautionary and gave (Luke) Trainor the second half. So yeah, unscathed, MJ’s (Rioli) fine.”

The loss marks the end of the season for Richmond, which finishes the year in 17th spot on the ladder with a 5-18 record.

It’s been a bittersweet year for the Tigers, who haven’t had many wins, but have been able to unearth some of their talent taken from last year’s draft.

“Parts of the season, there’s games that we weren’t good enough and we’re really disappointed in. But there’s other games that we were in. For us as a club right now, we’ve just got to be in more games and limit the bleeding when we do have some lapses,” Yze said.

“As a whole, we feel like we’ve got some growth. We’ve got some games into our younger players. Our first year boys showed some huge growth.”