Scott on the State of Origin concept

It had been earmarked that the game was being workshopped, so I was aware of the concept but still I was excited to get the call.

It wasn't the most exciting period of my life, so to get a little bit of a spark at that time was a good thing.

I have always been an advocate for it, I don't think anyone should pretend in our game that State of Origin is the pinnacle. It is not and it shouldn't impact the priorities that clubs have, but I think in working through it, the AFL have done a really good job.

Especially with the involvement of the clubs but more importantly the support of the players, to come up with a timeframe where virtually every team will be playing practice games anyway.

It gives the opportunity to the best players in the competition to represent their state, for my part in that I feel like it is a real privilege and one that I take seriously. 

Scott on whether he has been in contact with players

I have had a couple calls. I will respect their privacy, but I think it is a bit of a measure of not only the willingness, but the excitement to be included.

This reminds me a little bit of the attitude around the International Rules a while ago. When I was first approached to work with Alistair Clarkson and Ross Lyon around that, the sell was that this is going to be for the best players.

My sense is that that is the real hook for this concept as well, that it will be available to the best players. It is not going to work if the best players don't really embrace, but every indication we have got is that it is the case.

If the International Rules was a really positive experience, and it was an outstanding one, it was great for me personally, this will be that on steroids. 

Scott on how exciting the opportunity is

What this has the potential to be, is an outstanding opportunity for the best players in the game to play with and against each other. In a period of the season where it is not only not a drag on the clubs, but it is actually a positive.

At least from a Geelong perspective, our attitude is we are very optimistic that our best players will be playing in that weekend anyway. The ones I have spoken to, their strong preference is to play in an Origin game, as opposed to a practice game at a nondescript venue.

I can say with confidence, I know enough about the environment in WA. I coached as an assistant there at Fremantle for three years, in Mid-February they are starved of footy. If it is not a sellout at Optus Stadium, I will be staggered.

My experience is that the best players do have a thirst to play with each other. We are going to have to leave out some bonafide champions from the Victorian team.

If you look at it from that perspective alone, what a great honour it is to not only get selected, but start building something.

I would be very surprised if this isn't an outstanding success and it builds to something much, much bigger in the following year. 

Scott on managing players like Patrick Dangerfield

I think that is a good example, and it sort of helps to explain why I think the timing is optimal.

Our preference, and every club thinks about these things a little differently I suspect, but our preference is for him to have played some practice games before Round 1. That goes for all of our players, from Patrick at 35 through ideally to our first and second year players, the reality is that they will be playing anyway.

Good coaches that I have had dealings with over the years, when you talk about mitigating injury risk, you can get injured in a practice game and you can get injured in a home and away game. That is just the risk that you need to take, so I think it is likely that over time there will be injuries in these games.

I would caution people from overreacting to those and acknowledge that it could well happen in a practice game in Bunbury.

Time will tell a little bit, but my suspicion is that most clubs and most players, if they are playing that weekend would prefer to be playing with WA or Victoria. 

Scott on which players he would like to coach

I have been thinking a bit about Charlie Curnow over the last couple of weeks, so I would be very surprised if he wasn't someone I would like to see wearing the Big V. It is a long list, I shouldn't individualise too much.

But the ones that sort of sprung to mind for me was the players at either ends of their careers to an extent, I'm not retiring Marcus Bontempelli but I suspect he hasn't played for Victoria. I don't want to disparage the 2020 bushfire game, but I would suspect that this is a different situation. This is as close as we are going to get to the real deal, and the chance for him at this stage of his career as probably the pre-eminent player in the competition, I hope that is exciting for him. It is certainly exciting for me to get a bit of exposure to what he can do.

Then I think about some of the young players that could get picked. He is a lock but he is still a young player, Nick Daicos coming into that team. You would be crazy if you haven't, as a coach at one stage thought about if he was in our team how we would use him.

There are others as well and even, I am not sure if Tom Stewart has played for Victoria and that seems crazy to me. I am highly biased and with that on the table, I think he has been the best defender of the generation and for him to get the chance to play for Victoria is something he would relish, and I would love to see him in that environment.