Cats coach Chris Scott was taking it one week at a time in his post-match press conference.
Q: Chris, when you put your head on the pillow last night could you have envisaged anything like that?
A: No, obviously we had some concerns too. We were still thinking through the Tom Stewart thing, even the Sam De Koning one even though we had made that call by that stage. We have so much respect for what they [Port Adelaide] can do when they are hot. Last time we played them in Geelong they were hot early. If anything, that made us think hard about how we were playing at the time. I mean, we were confident that we were going into a finals series in good shape, but better for the lessons we learned in a bit of a lean patch we had. That Port game at Geelong was probably in the middle of that.
Q: How impressed were you by your six finals debutantes, the way they stood up under the pressure of September?
A: Yeah, it’s not easy. I think it’s easy to say “It’s just another game”, but you have to be not paying attention if you didn’t realise at least the stakes. I think you just have so many people in your ear telling you how different it is. Our job internally is to remind them it’s not that different. Then it gives us a bit more confidence because we know those guys so well. They haven’t shown any signs of, one getting ahead of themselves, which I think is the most important thing, but they haven’t shown any signs of being overawed. It’s the biggest test they have had so far and nice to see them come through it.
Q: Outside of grand finals where, in terms of finals without Tom coming in to play Port Adelaide, when many thought Port Adelaide were the favourites, where does that sit in terms of finals wins for you outside the grand final?
A: I find it really hard to rate them. I try as hard as I possibly can to think about each game in isolation, much less the seasons. I take your point. It was logical that they were good enough to finish second, earn a home final, team full of stars that if the game was on their terms they were going to be hard to stop. To play the way we did on the night, something we should be proud of and should feel good. But I’ve been in the game long enough to know that if you start getting ahead of yourself because you have one good night it will bite you pretty quickly.
Q: How important was the start tonight and did you sense there was any mental vulnerability in Port, given their history in finals and I guess to cash in on that and perform, how crucial was that for you?
A: I think the first comment you made, that a good start was important. Cameron kicks one that very few players can kick and that steadies your nerves a bit. Hand on heart I don’t think about the opposition in that sense. I’ve said for a number of years and probably people in your position either don’t believe me or choose not to, that stuff is theatre. You can make your own analysis, but that’s not something that motivates us. It’s more about how quickly can you get the game played your way? If that has some fringe benefits by putting some doubt in the opposition’s mind then great. But if you start thinking “We are going to play this way because that’s the way they will think about it”, you end up a bit confused.
Q: Cameron kicks a goal like that, when that goes through can it be estimated how big that is for a group? It seems to fire up the team from there.
A: For a long time I’ve been a big believer that to do good things you need a bit of luck. I see him at training and have seen him play enough that I know it’s not all luck, but you need things to go your way. He is an unbelievably skilled player and we depend on him. But your point is a valid one, guys that haven’t been there before, you are not human if you are not thinking “I wonder how this is going to go”, so when one of your best players slots one like that it is a bit calming. I don’t believe in this stuff, but if it’s kind of is this edging towards being our night or their night that helps a bit.