GEELONG coach Chris Scott says he can't mount an argument against Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans being seen as "clearly the two teams to beat" this season after his Cats prevailed in a thriller against Carlton on Friday night.
The Cats scraped over the line by six points at Etihad Stadium, after a controversial free kick opened the door for Allen Christensen to boot the game-winning goal with only two minutes to play.
Scott was thrilled to see young players like Josh Caddy and George Horlin-Smith play key roles in the win on a night where premiership stars Steve Johnson and Jimmy Bartel were sidelined because of injury.
Remarkably, Friday night's win for the Cats was their first without Johnson, Bartel or now-Bombers forward Paul Chapman in the team since 2001.
While happy with Geelong's seventh straight victory, Scott said more would be required for the Cats to topple the Hawks next week or the Swans in September, should they meet.
"I think we accept that we need to play better every single week to challenge the top two, because I can't mount an argument against the people who say that they're clearly the two teams to beat," Scott said.
"I do know that if we play our best footy, we keep improving, our young guys stand up and our old players do what they've shown they can do, we're a chance.
"We're in a good spot, but certainly not over-confident.
"It appears we're going to qualify high enough to give ourselves a chance, but that's all we've done."
Scott said it would be arrogant for the 16-4 Cats to think their remarkable record in close games was purely because of their own resilience, with luck playing a role.
That luck on Friday night came in the form of Christensen's contentious free kick, which was paid by the non-controlling umpire after the whistleblower closest to the action let play continue.
"Sometimes the umpires get obscured and that's the part that is not understood well enough out there," Scott said.
"The view or the angle that the viewers are getting at home is different to the view of the controlling umpire a lot of the time.
"So if a non-controlling umpire pays a free kick, all we would ask is that he's sure.
"If he's sure and he's got a good view of it, it seems to be the right thing.
"You always need a bit of luck and we certainly had it tonight."
The Cats' forward line misfired on Friday night – particularly in the third quarter, which produced 2.8 from 12 forward entries – and Scott said the team's best structure in attack was still up for debate.
He said the decisions not to play Bartel, Johnson and Jordan Murdoch were "ultra-conservative", and the Cats would make the same calls against Hawthorn if the trio were in any doubt.
"We're not taking risks with our players," the coach said.
"If the game was even more important and we were fighting harder for a top four position, we'd still be conservative."
On Johnson, who missed on Friday night because of a foot injury, Scott said: "Our medical staff have ruled out anything serious that would keep him out for anything longer than a couple of weeks".
"I'm very sure on the advice I've been given that he'll play well and truly before the end of the season.
"If it was serious and we thought he'd miss a month, we'd tell you."
