The double Premier manager said he thought players should be given time to kick the ball if they had no previous opportunity and suspected referees were reluctant to blow the whistle because there appeared to be an aversion to stoppages.
“From a coach's point of view, the hardest part, more than the frustration of why to hold the ball is not to tell the players 'don't throw them', but when they can turn and turn and turn … there was a couple of 360s here tonight where it's a whistle either way,” Scott said.
Jeremy Cameron was denied a goal in the closing minutes when the referee refused to award a leadCredit: Getty
While he insists the referees had a tough job, he also claimed Jeremy Cameron's goal in the last two minutes of the game because the referee decided to give the ball back for Ollie Henry to take a free-kick rather than pay the lead.
It would have returned the margin to one behind in favor of Port Adelaide.
“It was a goal and that's the point I was trying to make,” Scott said.
“Every other sport in the world that has a lead rule that I can think of doesn't whistle when there's a free kick because they want to see if there's a lead or not.”
Meanwhile, Scott confirmed that Tom Hawkins would not play against the Gold Coast in Darwin on Thursday night after the key forward bagged a goal in his record-equalling performance.
The Cats coach bemoaned the poor start, saying Port Adelaide players Jason Horne-Francis and Zak Butters took control of the game.
“They're an emotional team and when the emotion runs for them they're really good, so there's that side and we'll look at that and obviously think about how we can adjust when the game goes like that,” Scott said.
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He rationalized the decision to submerge Rhys Stanley for tactical reasons before half-time as an aggressive move that was necessary as the game looked lost at that stage.
It almost worked with Oisin Mullin, who replaced Hawkins, curbing Horne-Francis' influence in the second half after replacing Stanley.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said beating Geelong at the venue for the first time since 2007 was a great result.
“We have been a good team during the first part of this year. We've put ourselves in a reasonable place,” Hinkley said.
