Scott on what went wrong for the Cats

We thought we got beaten around the contest.

Their stoppage work, which is an obvious strength of theirs, I also thought their good players were really hot. They have had their good players in there for a while, and they look like they are starting to turn it on for whatever reason.

But that wasn't a surprise to us, it is not as if we weren't aware of the threat that they presented. As you say, the game started okay.

I guess the other observation I would make, we say it a lot and I am not sure if people necessarily believe us, but it is a really relentless season these days. There are lots of ebbs and flows, sometimes you are ebbing when the other team is flowing.

We were aware that we had been good for a month, it is not as if we were bracing ourselves for a fall, but this is the time to have a bit of perspective and balance to not overreact to what was a poor performance.  

Scott on the recent history against Carlton

I think I have said this before, I don't buy it.

We don't look back to games four years ago and say remember that one, when we had a completely different team.

But I would also refer to the previous question, if there is something then don't overthink it. Go with what they are really good at.

I didn't think we played horribly, we just didn't have the spark that we have had in previous weeks and they were really good. 

Scott on the midfield mix and Mullin's role

We had quite a few conversations around what we thought was most appropriate, but you know me well enough to know that I won't walk you through it.

We didn't feel like we could find the right mix for the majority of the night, and we were sort of chasing our tail a little bit in there.

To answer the question on whether it was the right call or not, we will need a little bit more time to work through some of the decisions we made.

I suspect it wasn't the most important thing that we will focus on in our review. 

Scott on where the Cats are at

I can't tell, I am certainly not overconfident.

With the greatest of respect to good teams in the competition at the moment, we are also not looking at it thinking, how in the world are we going to find a way to be in the contest against those teams.

I am not sure how much time you guys spend on the draw, but it is a fascinating part of the AFL landscape in my opinion. I think even the AFL would say that they don't know who is going to be good, but you have an idea from last year and break it up into sixes.

We are going through a patch in the draw where I think we play all the contenders, and we probably play four or five of them twice before we play some of the teams down the bottom.

How we come through this period probably tells us a little bit, but even with the byes coming up, the ladder becomes confusing. 

Scott on whether a flat performance is inevitable

I think it is the reality, but I don't accept it.

It is one of those things that we acknowledge that it is likely to happen, but one we shouldn't invite it and two if it does happen, we shouldn't throw our hands in the air and say it is one of those days.

Again, it is trying to find the right level and don't sweep it under the carpet, but don't lose your mind either.

It is frustrating in the short term, absolutely but we have got another opportunity next week in Adelaide that we are looking forward to.