'DON'T take unfit players into finals.'

Leigh Matthews’ famous football philosophy was in Chris Scott’s head this week when it came to picking Max Holmes, but he opted against his old coach’s wisdom and is confident the two-time Carji Greeves medallist will benefit from the run.

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Holmes hadn’t played since suffering a nasty broken ankle and high-grade syndesmosis injury against St Kilda in round 19 and revealed on Channel 7 after the game that he wasn’t expecting to play again this year after surgery unless Geelong reached the Grand Final. 

The 24-year-old made it back weeks ahead of schedule after missing the final five games of the home and away season and was managed across Friday night’s elimination final over Carlton at the MCG. 

Holmes played a game-low 60 per cent game time but worked into the game, kicking an important goal just before half-time, while collecting 10 of his 16 disposals in the second half. 

“I'm told that was a ridiculously quick recovery from that injury, so you can't help but have some trepidation about making the decision to play him. And I don't mind saying that it wasn't the deciding factor, but the medical team was so confident that him playing tonight would have him in better shape for next week, which is really saying something,” Scott said in his post-game press conference. 

“When I did try to give them a pat on the back, they just turned around and said ‘Look, he was unbelievable with the way he went about it. I don't rank them, but if you held a gun to my head and said, who's been our best player over the last three years? I think I'd say him. It was really challenging when we lost him, but it was also really challenging making the decision to play him tonight hoping that we would still have a few more weeks in our system. 

“That's the complexity of the decision-making process, and that's why it's not simple. The thought did occur to me, not just with these sort of decisions, but coaching in general: there are these kind of old school, sort of tried and true philosophies like you don't take unfit players into finals. And the more I thought about it, the more I think if it was all that easy, anyone would be doing it because you just go back to these old school nonsensical theories. Every situation is unique, and when they get really complicated, it requires long, slow, deliberate decision-making.”

Geelong will head west next week to face Fremantle for the second time this season at Optus Stadium. The Dockers overran the Cats in the second half to beat them by nine points in round 15.

Scott said the club’s management policy across the season, especially with veterans like Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Stewart, should help them handle the trip at this point of a long campaign.  

“We're really confident [we can manage the travel and turnaround]. We've put a lot of thought into – and we have for a long, long period of time, probably the whole time we've been at Geelong for one reason or another – the way we think about managing our list dominates a lot of our time and sometimes it works really well,” Scott said.

“Pat is a good example. He understands the way we think about it, and obviously he drives that sort of decision making process as well. He's had a number of problems this year that he's had to overcome. And in his words, he feels like he's coming good at the right time. I think it actually sounds a little bit arrogant when we say things like that, like we're just pacing ourselves for September. That's not the world we live in; the competition is way too tough. 

“But at the same time, whether you agree with the week off before the finals or not, that's the way it is. So it gives you a bit of room to sort of think about how we prepare our players. I think if we don't perform well next week, it won't be through a lack of thought or some impediment in our preparation.”

Young West Australian ruckman Mitch Edwards will head home after the best performance of his career ready to combat Luke Jackson in what looms as a crucial job in the semi-final. 

“It's unusual that a 20-year-old ruckman can shoulder the load the way Mitch has,” he said. “He was really good for us tonight. I really like and respect the way [Marc] Pittonet plays as well, so it was a real challenge. He was fantastic last week, so it was good for us tonight. 

“But I can't help but project forward to how much Mitch is going to help us over the next decade or so. For a 20 year old to perform that way was a real credit to him.”