GEELONG coach Chris Scott has refused to allow his side any excuses after a disappointing 13-point loss to Greater Western Sydney in Canberra just six days after their opening round thriller against Hawthorn.
The Cats squandered plenty of scoring chances in the first term against the Giants and came back from 37 points down late in the third quarter to get within a goal in the last, but Scott said post-match that his team had to be professional and deal with any obstacles thrown its way.
GWS won the contested possession count 148-127 and dominated the clearances in the second half to shade the Cats 39-26.
Several Geelong players looked out on their feet at times early in the second half and while Scott paid tribute to his players for willing themselves back into the contest, any excuses for the loss were off the table.
"If we're going to be a footy club that says 'Oh, we played well against the reigning premiers last week and we only had a six-day break and they had eight, and we had to go to Canberra', then I'm going to quit and go and coach somewhere else," Scott said.
"But we're not like that. We don't make excuses, so I'd appreciate if you don't make excuses for our players as well.
"The numbers are pretty clear in the way the game was played – we got beaten around the clearances, we got beaten in the contested ball badly.
"I actually thought we were running over the top of them; we were six goals down in the third quarter and we had the chance to go two goals up (in the last).
Click here for Chris Scott's full media conference
"To play that poorly around the ball in the third quarter in particular was disappointing, but it wasn't just the third quarter.
"Our clearances, after a really good performance, were just poor, but it's not something that's difficult to rectify and I'm very confident that we can do it in preparation for this week."
Patrick Dangerfield's second Cats' match after his 43-possession effort against the Hawks started well when he racked up 12 touches in the first quarter, but he was unable to sustain the effort, like many of his teammates.
Scott said the Cats had too many onballers who lowered their colours on the day.
"Patty (Dangerfield) got his hands on the ball in the marking contest a bit, he competed really hard, but as a group our midfield is really disappointed with the performance because we just got beaten," he said.
"At the ground ball we got beaten in the contest; in the clearances we got smashed, so it's hard to win when you're putting your defence under pressure."
Former Cat Steve Johnson enjoyed his first meeting against his old club with 23-possessions and two goals for the winners, but Scott said – with a grin – that his former star wasn't a factor in his pre-game preparation.
"Didn't give it a second thought," he said.
"Oh actually I did, because he wrote an article abut it during the week, so I read that."
