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Geelong coach Chris Scott has ramped up the pressure on the AFL to allow the Cats to host home finals at their Simonds Stadium fortress.
The Cats enjoy a strong home-field advantage at the ground but would likely only be allowed to host a final there if they are slated to meet Greater Western Sydney.
Few, if any, of the fledgling club’s supporters would be unable to get tickets to a final at the 34,000-seat venue.
But it would be a different story if the Cats faced a big-drawing Victorian opponent, with such a match-up almost certainly to be scheduled at the MCG.
“The finals are absolutely run by the AFL … and we respect that,” Scott said on Thursday.
“But at some point … I think it would be an interesting one to ask the question ‘do we as a competition prioritise the integrity and fairness of the competition above things like attendance and revenue?’
“And if we don’t then that’s OK.
“(But) let’s just be honest about it and say ‘we understand that we are doing something that is not fair, but we don’t care because we prioritise attendance and revenue’.”
The third-placed Cats can still claim a top-two finish or slip out of the top four altogether with two rounds left in the home-and-away season.
Geelong take on Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday and will regain important midfielder Mitch Duncan from suspension, with ruckman Rhys Stanley (calf) also set to take his place in the side.
The Pies are out of finals contention, but Scott said his team can ill-afford a slip-up and must keep their focus on this week and not their looming finals campaign.
“I think, at times, everyone dreams about what’s possible in September, but the real pros get back to the job at hand,” he said.
“We’re not going in just expecting to win the game – we need to play at our absolute best to beat this opposition. Their best this year has been very good.
“If we go into the game hoping for their worst we’ll get pantsed I reckon.”
Joel Selwood continues to make strong progress towards a return for week one of the finals, but Scott conceded they will know more about his chances of playing in the finals at the bye round.
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