Geelong coach Chris Scott had a simple message for his side after opening the AFL finals series with a 36-point loss to Hawthorn.
It’s harder now, but not impossible.
The defeat has thrown up two serious obstacles for Geelong’s premiership push: a knockout final next weekend, then an interstate preliminary final to follow.
It’s a path few sides have trodden, with West Coast in 2006 being the most recent premiers to have lost in week one of the finals.
Rather than dwell on the Cats’ missed opportunities or poor delivery to their forwards, Scott stoked his side’s self-belief at the MCG on Friday night.
“Be positive. Come in on Monday ready to learn and let’s take on whoever it might be,” Jimmy Bartel said of Scott’s post-match address.
“We can’t drag our tails around all week.
“We have to do it the hard way, but why can’t we do it?”
Geelong were competitive for most of the night, but trailed by 14 points at three-quarter time and couldn’t seriously challenge Hawthorn’s dominance from that point on.
Scott was “supremely confident” his team would bounce back on Friday night.
“The equation for us is simple: we’ve got to win the next three games,” he said.
“I don’t have any concerns whatsoever that our playing group will be flattened by this and won’t respond.
“We will hurt for a couple of days, but we’ll be back.”
Scott accepted “a lot of people outside Geelong” would declare his side’s premiership hopes over.
“That’s OK. They can say that. We understand it’s harder, but it’s far from impossible,” he said.
Scott will be sweating on the availability of lively duo Steve Johnson and Steve Motlop.
Motlop limped off the ground in the second quarter against the Hawks with a leg injury but played out the game.
Johnson was limited by the same foot injury that forced him to miss the final three rounds of the regular season.
“We knew there was a risk with his foot at some stage. They (club medical staff) decided on the best course of action,” Scott said.
“They’ll need to reassess.
“Hopefully it’s just sore and he pulls up OK.”
