Twenty-nine years ago Chris Scott was a 17-year-old at Brisbane Boys College, wearing a green shirt, a green, white and black tie and a straw boater to school. Too young to drive, he’d catch a cab to training with the Brisbane Bears after school.
He made his AFL debut in Round 1 1994 against Sydney at the Gabba. He had 11 possessions and kicked a goal as the Bears won by 10 points after trailing by 32 points at quarter-time and at every change.
Twenty-two weeks later he won the AFL’s Rising Star Award to stamp himself as one of outstanding young players in the competition and went on to become one of the greats of the Brisbane Lions. A club champion and a 215-game dual premiership player. He played 114 times at the Gabba for an 83-1-30 record.
📸 Images: Chris Scott
Scott, now 47, will return to the Gabba on Saturday a dual Geelong premiership coach set for a very special career milestone. He will coach the Cats for the 304th time to equal the club record of the great Reg Hickey, after whom the eastern stand at the Geelong home ground is named.
But for two and a half hours on Saturday afternoon he will be the enemy, in charge of a Geelong side trying to land a body blow to the 2023 campaign of his former club while adding to the growing late season momentum of his current club.
It’s been an odd year for the defending premiers. They started 0-3 to sit last on the ladder at round 3, won their next five and then lost three in a row. They were still 10th at round 14, and only after three wins and a draw in their last four games do they sit inside the top eight for the seventh time in 18 rounds.
But after a 15-point win over Melbourne in Round 15, followed by a draw with Sydney, a 62-point win over North Melbourne and a 77-point obliteration of Essendon last weekend, they loom large.
Head-to-Head
Brisbane and Geelong will meet for the 56th time on Saturday. The head-to-head record is 20-1-34 to the Cats, and since Ash McGrath’s unforgettable after-the-girl siren to give the Lions a five-point win in Round 13 2013 the Lions have won only two of 15. In Round 15 2021, when Dayne Zorko and Joe Daniher led a 44-point win, and in Round 22 2019 by a point after a late match-winner from ex-Cat Lincoln McCarthy.
It's 10-11 in favor of Geelong at the Gabba, 7-1-18 at Kardinia Park, 2-3 at Carrara, 1-1 at the MCG and 0-1 at the SCG after the teams played there in the Covid season of 2020.
An Unforgettable Beginning
The Brisbane v Geelong rivalry began in extraordinary circumstances in 1987 when the competition newcomers, after a shock Round 1 win over North Melbourne at the MCG, made to trek to Kardinia Park and beat the Cats by 19 points.
Not even eight goals from Geelong legend Gary Ablett Snr could deny the visitors as Jim Edmond kicked eight goals and Mark Williams kicked six goals and had 30 possessions – a double that has never been repeated in club history. Michael McCarthy kicked four goals and the Brownlow Medal votes went to Matthew Campbell, Mike Richardson and Mark Mickan.
Brownlow Medal Votes
Despite the lop-sided head-to-head record and an aggregate Brownlow Medal vote tally that favours Geelong 178-134 Jason Akermanis has polled most votes in games between the clubs. He polled six times, including four best afield three-voters, for 15 votes. Nigel Lappin, Chris Scott’s long-time right hand man in the Geelong coaching box, polled 11 votes for Brisbane against Geelong, from Simon Black (8), Michael Voss (7) and Craig Lambert (6).
📸 Images: Jason Akermanis
Joel Selwood heads the Geelong count with 14, having polled eight times, while Steve Johnson (14), Patrick Dangerfield (13), Tom Hawkins (12), Gary Ablett Jnr (11), Paul Chapman (11) and Gary Ablett Snr (9) have also polled again against Brisbane.
Highs and Lows
Brisbane’s highest score against Geelong is 25-13 (163) in Round 19 1990 at Carrara, when they won by 66 points. Best afield Roger Merrett kicked an equal career-best eight goals, Brad Hardie four and Mike Richardson and Mark Roberts three each.
The club’s biggest win over the Cats is 69 points – a stunning 20-8 to 7-17 blitz at Kardina Park in Round 15 2000 when Nigel Lappin was best afield, and an equally dominant 17-14 to 6-11 blitz at the Gaba in Round 13 2005, when Jason Akermanis had 35 possessions and kicked five goals in Lappin’s 250th game.
Brisbane’s lowest score against Geelong is 5-3 (33) at Kardinia Park in 2009, and their biggest loss was an 11-9 (75) to 37-17 (239) hiding at Carrara in 1992, when Gary Ablett Snr kicked nine goals for the Cats and John Hutton eight of the Bears’ 11 goals.
Major Possession-Winners
The Brisbane record for most possessions in a game against Geelong has stood since 1988, when Mark Withers, club champion that year, had 38 touches in a 53-point loss at Carrara. Three Geelong players have had 40 against Brisbane – Mark Bairstow (40) at the Gabba in 1991, Gary Ablett Jnr (42) at Kardinia Park in 2009 and Joel Selwood (41) at Kardinia Park in 2010.
Tom Rockliff had five 30-possession games for Brisbane against Geelong and Nigel Lappin four, while Selwood and Jimmy Bartel had five for Geelong and Ablett Jnr four.
Major Goal-Kickers
Jim Edmond, Roger Merrett and John Hutton share the Brisbane goal-kicking record against Geelong with eight apiece, while Jonathan Brown twice kicked seven against the club where he played his Under 18s football. The overall record between the clubs is 11 goals, held by Geelong pair Gary Ablett Snr (1992) and Billy Brownless (1993).
📸 Images: Roger Merrett & John Hutton
Brownless’ career-best 11 goals came in the first of four games played at the Gabba on a trial basis in 1991 ahead of the Bears’ move from Carrara in 1993, when Cats captain Damian Bourke, later to play for the Bears, picked up three Brownlow Medal votes while Gavin Exell, an ex-Southport player, kicked five goals.
Ablett Snr had a phenomenal record against Brisbane, kicking 67 goals in 11 games against the Bears, going 7-2-11-4-3-6-9-8-6-6-4. His 6.1 goals per game average was his best against any club.
So good was Ablett Snr that current Cats full forward Tom Hawkins, third on the Geelong all-time goal-kicking list and an AFL Hall of Famer in waiting, has taken 22 games against Brisbane to kick 68 goals. He’s had eight games of four-plus, including two bags of seven.
Geelong Form Guide
In a statistic that is reflective of their up-and-down season, Geelong do not have a player in the top 27 vote-getters in the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year Award. Vice-captain Tom Stewart (38) heads the Geelong vote from captain Patrick Dangerfield (36), Jeremy Cameron (34). Tom Hawkins (24), Esava Ratugolea (20) and Max Holmes (20)
Stewart also is the Cats’ leading possession-winner, averaging 22.3 possessions a game. Mitch Duncan (21.8), Dangerfield (21.6), Isaac Smith (21.2) and Holmes (20.1) are also at 20-plus with Cam Guthrie, who hasn’t played since round 6.
Hawkins, the Cats’ leading goal-kicker in each of the last 11 seasons, heads the Cats’ goal count again this year with 45 and is equal third overall. Cameron (40) is eighth overall, from Ollie Henry (27) and Tyson Stengle (20), Brad Close (18) and Gary Rohan (18).
