'I don't care what anyone thinks': Cats coach hits back at criticism of late team changes
Geelong coach Chris Scott does not care whatsoever that his club has garnered a reputation for making late changes.
Teams are allowed to make changes to their teams up until an hour before the start of the game, where the starting 22 and substitute must be confirmed.
The Cats have been called out this year for naming the likes of Tom Stewart and Mark Blicavs in situations where both seemed unlikely to play due to injuries, and both were eventually withdrawn.
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Chris Scott was fired up on Footy Classified on Tuesday night Nine
Scott says it's well within AFL rules and they will continue to use every second available to them.
"There's two parts to it - one, I don't care what anyone thinks, and especially, can I just have a little dig at the people who bet on footy, I really don't care about them," Scott told Nine's Footy Classified.
"Secondly, we tend to wait as long as we can. You've got an hour (before the game starts) before you've got to select your team."
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Scott was shown an interview of himself on the field in the lead-up to his side's round four clash with Melbourne, where he explained the withdrawal of Blicavs, who had been sick all week.
The interview seemed to suggest Scott was still yet to decide the club's final 22 even within the final hour before the start of the game.
Geelong coach Chris Scott. AFL Photos via Getty Images
"I was a bit flustered there because we had Blicavs who was crook and we knew four or five hours before that he wasn't going to play, but we don't announce it until an hour before - get used to that, we won't change that," Scott said.
"But the reason I was flustered is that was right on the hour before we needed to name our team and Jack Henry was 50-50 with a foot issue.
"And I was trying to do the numbers on the run. I don't really care, but I can't think of a time where we've tried to just deliberately muck around with it."
Geelong faces Hawthorn on Easter Monday, in the traditional clash between Victorian heavyweights.
