GEELONG in on a mission to curb the influence of Hawthorn ball magnet Tom Mitchell in their Easter Monday blockbuster, with Cats coach Chris Scott marvelling at his record-breaking exploits.
Mitchell set a new AFL benchmark for most disposals in a game with 54 in Saturday night's win over Collingwood.
The Hawks onballer is the only player with two games in the top 10, having amassed 50 last season – also against the Magpies, although Collingwood won that game.
Pies coach Nathan Buckley raised eyebrows at the time when he questioned Mitchell's impact, but Scott said Mitchell had demolished any doubts with his latest extraordinary performance.
"We do revert pretty quickly to 'what the hell were you doing in opposition', but for a second, we should celebrate how good he was," Scott said on Fox Footy's AFL360.
"There's been a bit of a knock on him over the years that he's not that penetrating, he (just) racks it up in tight.
"He did it all on the weekend ... he did it inside, did it outside."
Former Melbourne coach Paul Roos led the charge against the Magpies for once again allowing Mitchell to rack up possessions at will, describing it as an "embarrassment".
Scott noted in Buckley's defence that Mitchell's vision at the stoppages made him extremely difficult to restrict.
"There is a school of thought for Tom Mitchell that if you stand next to him all day, you might chop him from 50 to 40 (disposals) ... but you won't chop him down to 15," Scott said.
Geelong boasts perhaps the competition's best midfield, with Patrick Dangerfield set to return from injury alongside Gary Ablett and Joel Selwood.
The Cats are unlikely to apply a hard tag to Mitchell, but Scott indicated he was certain to receive plenty of attention.
"He will have a match-up," Scott said.
"Sometimes even when you have a really specific match-up where you want them to be a little bit tighter, there are other things and other parts of the game that trump being next to him.
"There's a balance. We'll certainly spend a lot of time on it."
