THE EFFORTS of Geelong's young brigade to "control the destiny of the team" in its 77-point thumping of Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Friday night was a giant leap forward in the club’s evolution, coach Chris Scott says.
With game-breakers Joel Selwood and Steven Motlop well held by Carlton's Ed Curnow and Dennis Armfield, it was Jordan Murdoch, Josh Caddy, Mark Blicavs, Cameron Guthrie and Jackson Thurlow who carried the Cats to a percentage-boosting win over the lowly Blues.
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"We still rely on our experienced players, like most teams do," Scott said in his post-match press conference.
"We've been relatively confident in their ability for a season or two now, but it's a big step to contributing every now and again to taking control of the destiny of the team.
"That's what we're hoping for. That's what we're trying to fast track. It's not a linear progression.
Click here to watch Chris Scott's full post-match press conference
"The signs from tonight were really pleasing."
Murdoch booted a career-high four goals to go along with 26 disposals in what was the most influential match of his 48-game career.
"He's been working really hard on his game. He's always effective when he gets the ball, but he just needs to get himself in a position to get used a little bit more," Scott said of Murdoch.
"That was the pleasing thing for us tonight. He seemed to be involved in the action a little bit more."
The 198cm Blicavs, who contributes as a tall midfielder and as a third-man up at ruck contests, was also influential with a team-high 27 disposals to go with 14 hit-outs.
When asked if the rate of Blicavs' development had been striking, Scott was quick to agree.
"Yeah and I expect he'll continue to surprise us. He's taken every challenge that we've put in front of him and we thought he was fantastic tonight," Scott said.
"There's been some things that weren't obvious to the TV viewers that he was doing off the ball that were just as important as the stuff that he did around it."
Caddy won 23 touches, eight clearances and kicked three goals, while Guthrie stepped back into the midfield, after a three-week stint in defence, to have the best game of his season with 22 disposals (13 contested), five inside 50s and a goal.
Thurlow also had a significant impact from half-back with 20 disposals at 75 per cent efficiency.
Scott said his side had a "quiet confidence" after getting its win-loss record back to 4-4 after eight rounds of the season.
"We don't want to be patient. We (the coaching group) want to get it done as quickly as we possibly can to improve our team," Scott said.
"We've got a quiet confidence about the direction we're taking and not for a second do I want that to sound like it's a long-term direction at the expense of the short term.”
Scott said the way in which his side finished off the game in the second-half was a step in the right direction after recent fade-outs.
"That was the primary focus at half-time. I thought it was a step in the right direction tonight."
