Carlton to launch “red hot” crack at Geelong coach, Cats assistant being “hunted” by opposition clubs

Significant off-field change could be coming at Geelong, according to Sportsday co-host Sam McClure.

The Cats were heavily beaten by Melbourne in Friday night’s Preliminary Final, with the fall out to their tumultuous exit set to continue in the coming weeks.

Former AFL football boss Steve Hocking will begin his tenure as Geelong CEO following Brian Cook’s departure, while coach Chris Scott only has one year left of his current contract.

With Carlton poised to appoint Cook as their next CEO, McClure says the Blues are positioning themselves to have a “red hot crack” at poaching Chris Scott before his Geelong deal runs out at the end of the 2022 season.

“Brian Cook will be Carlton’s next CEO and I think that could be announced as early this week,” he said on Sportsday.

“I think that absolutely opens the door for the Blues to have a red-hot crack at Chris Scott, who has one more year left on his deal at Geelong.

“We know there’s a lot of moving parts to this, Steve Hocking is returning to the club as CEO who we know is an agent of change and they have an ageing list.

There’s also plenty of change expected to come at assistant coach level, with Matthew Knights formally departing the club on Monday to take up a role under Adam Simpson at West Coast.

McClure said that current assistants Corey Enright and Matthew Scarlett were no certainty to be at Kardinia Park next year, with the former being chased by several opposition clubs.

“Matthew Knights is leaving to join West Coast and Corey Enright is being hunted by a couple of clubs,” he said.

“(Enright) could be at the Pies and he’s being hunted by the Saints as well. I don’t think there’s any guarantee that Matthew Scarlett continues to be an assistant coach there next year either.

“You just wonder whether it’s an opportunity for the club or Chris Scott to end what has been an extremely successful tenure. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but people over (in Perth) are starting to talk about that.”