Scott on this weeks team selection

It is always a difficult situation with selection at this time of year.

That was one of the harder calls that we have had to make in a long time, but I will emphasise that it was a call we made given the circumstances of this particular game.

As a coaching group in particular we have been really proud of the way our players have approached the last month or two. We have had some very highly credentialed players who have been in the mix, who unfortunately aren't playing tomorrow night.

The way they have conducted themselves, the way they have given to the team has been really impressive. Sometimes the mark of a person is how they deal with a situation where they are clearly feeling disappointment. 

Scott on Jed Bews' role in the side

We have always been of the view that we are not searching for our best 23, we are looking for our best team in the circumstances.

Jed Bews has been a great story, when I speak of players that have handled themselves well through adversity, Jed is the one who springs to mind.

He basically didn't play in the AFL team at all, led the younger guys really well, kept his head up, stayed positive and when he got his chance he took it.

The circumstances this week meant that we felt that he and Oisin Mullin were the right players to have in the team.

Scott on Max Holmes 

I think our job as leaders of the club is certainly to influence, but we don't tell our players how to feel. My suggestion would be that if you are focusing on something from two years ago, your mind isn't in the right spot but some people are good enough to use those things as motivation.

I don't think there is anything for Max to take away from that game two years ago, the two years he has had since that moment have been really good.

He was an important for us back then, but not as important as he is to us now. 

Scott on the importance of a good start

The logic is really sound that a good start in a big game is important, the harder part has always been how you get that.

That is the art of it, there is a little bit of science to support the preparation that we have had. That is the art of trying to bring a group together, to make sure they are ready.

We don't have an ace up our sleeve, but a lot of thought goes into that.

We are confident and we found ourselves re-enforcing what we do, it is not as if we used the extra time to try and reinvent the wheel or come up with something drastically different.