Geelong coach Chris Scott believes the Cats have relied too heavily on forward Tom Hawkins in the first half of the AFL season and must develop more scoring avenues.
Hawkins is the Cats’ leading goal scorer with 32, while Jimmy Bartel is the next best with 12. Injuries to Daniel Menzel, Nathan Vardy, Mitch Brown and Shane Kersten has limited Scott’s forward-line options, leaving Hawkins the only genuine target.
Speaking on Channel Seven’s Talking Footy on Monday night, Scott said Geelong’s lack of fit talls was putting a lot of pressure on Hawkins. “We’d (planned to) sort of throw it open and see which one of them performed the best,” Scott said.
“Now they’ve all been injured. So we played Josh Walker – he was okay on the weekend – but we’re still very open-minded as to what our best look in there is. You could say that that’s a problem, but it’s also an opportunity, isn’t it? We’re 8-3 at the half-way mark and we’re miles away from getting our best forward group together.”
While many opposition clubs see the Cats as genuine premiership contenders, Scott said his team would struggle to make an impact in September if it didn’t improve.
But the premiership-winning mentor was quick to add that he had plenty of faith in his playing group. “I would also say, especially to our supporters, if we get it right and we play our best footy, I’m confident we can beat anyone on any day,” he said. “Especially when the really important games come around.”
Geelong host St Kilda on Sunday.
