DEAD rubber syndrome hit Geelong in its one-point win over the Brisbane Lions, according to Cats coach Chris Scott.
With the margin between St Kilda and Fremantle widening as the afternoon went on, Geelong's players realised it did not matter whether they won or not, they would still finish second.
The coach knew the players knew and he could see it affecting their performance.
Scoreboards flashing updates of what was happening at Etihad meant the Cats couldn’t escape the feeling that this was one they could let slip.
So Scott watched his team's one point win with some detachment.
"We're not too disappointed. We're certainly not ecstatic… we'd like to play better.
“It would be fantastic to have played brilliantly, but we've had a pretty good couple of weeks prior to this, and as you can see with some of the teams' preparation going into this round, there are some teams in the comp that have bigger fish to fry," Scott said.
For the Cats that bigger fish come next week in the form of Fremantle, a team that has only ever finished top four three times since it entered the competition in 1995.
Most expect the game to be played at Simonds Stadium where the Cats have won 43 of its past 44 games.
But Scott shrugged his shoulders when asked his thoughts on the possibility of genuine home-ground advantage.
"I understand the excitement around Geelong but the AFL decides the fixture. I guess we could campaign pretty hard to have it here, but there's no point. The AFL need to be entrusted with the fixture, and who plays where during the finals series," Scott said.
"I said during the week, happy to play anywhere. All I can do is reiterate that."
He admitted that if pressed his order of preference would be Simonds Stadium, the MCG and then Etihad.
"Simonds is more familiar to us. We've got some confidence. We play the ground well. That's about it," Scott said.
"The record is nice and maybe it builds a little bit of confidence but I subscribe to the theory that recent history is the most important thing."
Fremantle defeated Geelong at the MCG in the opening week of finals in 2012 but it has won just nine games in its history against the Cats.
When it played Geelong at Simonds Stadium in round 14 it was missing Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands, Michael Barlow and David Mundy and got thumped. The Dockers only win at the ground was in round 10, 2005.
Scott said Fremantle's poor performance against St Kilda would not be analysed too heavily but he expected a tough game.
"I don't think they've been tested by the good sides recently but you can only beat who you play and they've pretty impressive," Scott said.
