Chris Scott slams Eddie McGuire for comments about Geelong coach's behaviour

Kieran Francis

Chris Scott slams Eddie McGuire for comments about Geelong coach's behaviour image

Chris Scott has slammed former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire for his opinion on the Geelong coach's behaviour on match-day.

Last week, McGuire - who stepped down as Magpies leader in February following the aftermath of the Do Better racism report - suggested the AFL and umpires were 'not happy' with Scott's 'constant theatrics' and 'constant demonstrative attack on the umpires during matches.

Speaking on Footy Classified after Geelong's five-point win against Hawthorn on Easter Monday, Scott claimed McGuire invented the accusations - as he would have been made aware by the sport's governing body himself if they were true.

"I don‘t think Ed knows what he’s talking about, to be honest," Scott said.

"There are some people I really respect at the AFL who are strong personalities and would pass that information on to me if they felt that way – and they certainly wouldn‘t pass it on to Ed without passing on to me.

"I‘ve got a lot of respect for Ed as well, but I think he just made that part up."

Scott recently received a suspended fine after being involved in a quarter-time incident with Brisbane players and Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale, while he has also had a confrontation with umpire Ray Chamberlain during the 2019 preliminary final against Port Adelaide and an exchange with Power veteran Hamish Hartlett in 2016.

The Cats tactician admitted his passion for the game can sometimes be over the top but said that he would rather be at risk of boiling over, than being a passive coach.

"I‘m invested in the game, there’s no doubt about that, and over the course of 11 years and almost 300 games, on two or three occasions I’ve done some things that I probably shouldn’t have," Scott said.

"But those sort of interactions happen between coaches and umpires a lot. Some of them get caught on film, very few of them probably. That wasn‘t an example of me being hot headed it was ‘Ray throw the ball up’.

"I made a decision a long time ago in the box, in particular, from some advice from people in footy that I really respect that it‘s difficult to keep your calm for the whole day and you need to be you need to find a time to release and the coach’s boxes your sanctuary a little bit.

"I almost never, without some sort of method, lose my temper with the players, so the coaches box is kind of my release to an extent.

"If you‘re asking the question do I look at it and think ‘yeah, that’s brilliant, I love that, make sure you do that again’, no it’s a bit embarrassing for me.

"But I do feel that if I had to make a choice to be more invested in the game and defend my players and be in the game, as opposed to being too calm and too passive, I’d choose the former.

"I think you need to be invested in the game to the point where it‘s visible to your players and your people. Now that does run a risk of boiling over a little bit, but again, I would contend that maybe you should speak to the people inside of Geelong and get a feel for how often I’m calm and composed as opposed to aggressive.

"I think what you seeing in one or two-second grabs don’t reflect the course of a few hours over a game.

"I think it (being filmed in the box) is part of the broadcast and I‘m happy to play my part there. If it leads to a little bit of ridicule from some quarters, I mean nine out of 10 people in Victoria hate the Cats coach anyway. That’s just the life I’ve chosen to live."

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.