Scott on the 2026 season

There are a lot of emotions when you lose the last game, especially in a really high standard contest like that.

But I think it is appropriate to talk about our perspective initially, and just how pleased we were with the way we hung in this season.

In some ways, this game was symptomatic of our season a bit.

A lot of things went wrong, we found ourselves behind the eight-ball at various times, but found a way to hang in and give ourselves a chance.

Really, that is kind of the thing I would like to focus on, at least from our perspective. 

Scott on Geelong's fight on Friday night

Obviously the opposition were very good all year and deserved their chance at a second home final.

But when we look back at our season, I think tonight will be a bit of a reflection of the overall season.

There are a lot of teams in history that after a start like that, would have turned up their toes and been beaten badly. Obviously we were being outplayed, but to hang in and give ourselves a chance late in the game, and in some ways be a fraction unlucky at various times is a credit to our players.

It is less about our off-field stuff and much more about the ability of those guys to hang in.

So they will all be really hurting at the moment and I sort of had a feeling going into the game, that the winner of this game would have a really good chance. I am probably more confident of that now, but again, it would have been easy five minutes into the game to think this is not our night. 

Scott on where the momentum flipped 

They are a good centre bounce team, it is an area we need to improve.

If you take out the first three or four minutes and the centre bounces in general, then that patch and it wasn't even with three minutes to go in the third quarter, it was probably the last 90 seconds. We were probably on top for the rest of the game, but they were two brief periods that really hurt us.

But again, I would prefer to focus more on the fact that that went against us, and it would break certain teams.

I certainly didn't think we were broken, so in a lot of ways the disappointment is palpable, but I am sure that in the fullness of time, I will be more proud of our performance this year. 

Scott on Cameron and Holmes

Just short of a run, I think for Holmes.

Cameron a little bit as well, but he did a remarkable job to get through the year the way he did. It is for others and mainly for him to speak about what he put up with, with his arm.

I will say that we don't put our players at risk. It was one of those issues where he could've had it fixed and he misses the rest of the year, or he could keep playing through and if it failed, he would have to get it done then.

I thought he was terrific the way he hung in, and then had a really bad shoulder injury that needed surgery. He came back, but even the very best players need some continuity in their footy to perform at their best at this level.

Holmes, initially the prognosis was that he might make a Prelim Final. So to come back and play two Finals the way he did was ultra impressive, and speaks to his professionalism.

But I think it was more a matter of a couple of more weeks would have had him closer to himself. 

Scott on Mitch Edwards and the ruck battle

Mitch is 20, and I think he is going to be a super player.

We couldn't have forecast at the start of the year that he was going to have the year he had.

[Luke] Jackson is such a rare player, he has got the physical attributes that are so admirable, but he is a smart footballer as well. Even the free kicks he drew were the craftiness of an experienced ruckman.

When he started, I think there were some question marks over whether he was a genuine ruckman. Maybe he isn't, but he is better than the normal, genuine ruckman.

I always hesitate to say unique, but he is as close to unique in that position as there is in the competition.