GEELONG coach Chris Scott believes there is still reason for optimism about the club's future, despite suffering another premature finals exit on Friday night.
The Cats have now lost nine of their past 12 finals matches, bowing out of season 2018 with a disappointing 29-point elimination final defeat to Melbourne at the MCG.
Having conceded five straight goals to start Friday night's contest, Geelong never recovered and couldn't overturn the sizeable deficit throughout a gruelling and scrappy encounter.
DEMONS DUMP CATS Full match coverage and stats
Speaking after the match, Scott stopped short of analysing the overall success of Geelong's season, instead reiterating his confidence in the club's long-term direction.
"The time for us to make those assessments are going to come a little bit down the track," Scott said.
"It's not appropriate in my mind to answer that question expansively 30 minutes after our season is over. But in short, we're always trying to improve our list while we transition.
WHO FAILED TO FIRE? Every Geelong player rated out of 10
"If you actually take some time to look through the data, it would suggest that we've been OK for a reasonable period of time. (We've been) in contention, give or take – not quite good enough in the end – while simultaneously transforming our list.
"At the end of the year, there's only one team that's happy with the way they've gone. But there's enough room for optimism in our future."
YOUNG DEMONS NOT OVERAWED Five things we learned
Geelong's finals exit comes despite the club again recruiting aggressively during last year's NAB AFL Trade Period, with veteran superstar Gary Ablett returning to the Cats.
Ablett joined the likes of Zach Tuohy, Patrick Dangerfield, Lachie Henderson, Zac Smith and Scott Selwood in being lured to Geelong recently, with the club still unable to turn its success at the trade table into a 10th flag.
WATCH The three moments that mattered
However, Scott believes there is still time for the Cats to realise their premiership dream.
"We're still optimistic," Scott said.
"I can't work out when our era started and if it's finished or not. I'm not a big believer in that. I think every year is a year in its own right.
"Next year, I'm not sitting here thinking it's going to be hard for us. I'm optimistic about what can be achieved."
Friday night's defeat also continued Geelong's horror post-bye record, with the Cats losing nine of their past 10 matches after a week off in a dismal seven-year stretch.
Scott revealed after the match that the club will continue to look into what is causing the issue and how they may prepare for post-bye matches in the future.
"We think about it a lot," Scott said.
WATCH Chris Scott's full post-match press conference
"We're working really hard on it, but clearly not delivering well enough.
"You could have asked seven or eight different questions and my answer would have been the same. We're just not good enough at the moment in a lot of areas."
