The Saints appeared the better side for large periods of the first two and a half quarters, but a late rally when all seemed lost propelled Geelong to an unlikely one-point win to hand Scott his maiden AFL victory.
"They have an intense dislike of people thinking that they're better than they are," Scott said after the match.
"And St Kilda could make an argument that they are better than we are. They finished higher on the ladder last year.
"Especially when players are getting towards the end of their careers the challenges can really build. So far we've seen that our guys aren't prepared to give up both within games and through the hard pre-season.
"We thought the game was gone [in the coaches box], but that tells you that they never give up. I've thought that as an outsider over the last few years. These guys never think they're out of a game."
Scott's first game in charge looked set to be memorable for all the wrong reasons when the previously potent Cats' attack had registered just one goal late in the third quarter.
St Kilda's pressure made Scott's side look slow and hesitant, but the coach was more displeased with some costly turnovers than the slow ball movement that wasn't prevalent under the previous regime.
"The thing that we were disappointed about was that it was a really tight arm-wrestle, but we gave them a few easy goals that we just can't afford to do," he said.
"I thought we were OK in the first two and a half quarters. The Saints force you to play a certain way and that's a credit to them. We didn't expect anything different.
"With one goal in the third quarter - we would have liked to have scored more than that and we certainly had more chances than that.
"We've got some things to work on but … I'm just so impressed with the work ethic and the commitment of the boys because everyone was out on their feet towards the end."
Courageous midfielder Joel Selwood, who captained the side in the absence of Cameron Ling, went to hospital for scans after a sickening collision with St Kilda's Farren Ray in the first quarter, but had returned to the MCG by the time the Cats sang the song to celebrate their stunning win.
Scott was reluctant to get drawn into the debate over how the substitute rule affected the contest other than to say his players were out on their feet in the dying minutes.
