GEELONG coach Chris Scott says his team's 150-point win over Gold Coast at Skilled Stadium on Saturday, which came a week after it beat Melbourne by 31 goals, was a clear demonstration of its desire to be in peak condition in September.
The Cats were in dazzling form against the Suns; they booted 15 unanswered goals between the middle of the second quarter and half-time, then finished the game by kicking another 11 without reply.
"We pride ourselves on playing the way that's going to be sustainable in finals," Scott said.
"I think the last three weeks, barring the second half against Richmond, we’ve been able to do that.
"People would argue we haven't been tested as much as we could have, and that's true, but I'm not sure what we can do about that at this point."
The Cats dominated the midfield battle to such an extent that they were able to register 80 inside-50s - a new AFL record.
Gold Coast, in contrast, went inside 50 on only 30 occasions.
Travis Varcoe, who usually lines up in the forward line, was one of the driving forces behind Geelong's brilliant display.
Playing across half-back, he gathered a game-high 33 possessions and sent his team inside 50 on 10 occasions.
"We know he can play midfield and forward, and we always thought he could play back," Scott said.
"He's done it for periods of games this year, but we wanted to give him a whole game there.
"It's nice to have that versatility. Certainly when he comes streaming off half-back with the ball it's pretty exciting stuff."
After collecting 17 touches in the first half, midfielder Joel Corey was subbed out the game during the long break.
"He's got a knee issue that's been managed all pre-season and all year," Scott said.
"He was a little bit sore there, so we were proactive."
Geelong's other concern was champion defender Matthew Scarlett, who sat out the last quarter after suffering a similar problem.
"He's had a little bit of pain behind his knee and we'll scan it," Scott explained.
"He's such an important player to us, and if there was any risk at all we were never going to send him back on.
"We'll have to wait a couple of days before we can give you an accurate diagnosis, suffice to say it's not serious."
Scott denied the fitness of veteran ruckman Brad Ottens was a concern for the club. Ottens missed the clash with the Suns due to knee soreness.
He also sat out the game against Richmond two weeks ago.
"His knee is something we need to manage," Scott said. "I think we've been conservative at times this year, and you can put this one in the ultra-conservative bracket."
