Geelong had moved from ninth all the way up to third on the AFL ladder via a four-game winning streak that saw them conquer reigning Premiers Brisbane as well as then-ladder leaders Sydney, only for five defeats from their six subsequent matches fall five spots from fourth to ninth in the space of a fortnight.
Despite three of those five losses being accompanied by single digit margins, Scott and Geelong have nonetheless faced intensifying scrutiny as they face the prospect of missing the finals for just the third time in his 16-season tenure.
Fox Footy pundit David King said at the weekend that he had "never seen as many defensive lapses or deficiencies in a fortnight of footy", referring to the Cats spurning a 39-point lead against the GWS Giants the week after they conceded eight goals each in both the first and third quarters against Brisbane.
Scott called for more nuance and understanding when assessing his team's recent results, suggesting their football has been a lot better than the win-loss columns would otherwise suggest, and St Kilda's Lyon tended to agree during his pre-match press conference this week.
"That nuance and detail gets lost amongst the noise around win-loss, but it doesn't get lost in our analysis of their capabilities," Lyon said.
"There's obviously been a lot of noise about them, but gee whiz: they played the Dockers with no Stewart and no Bailey Smith, and they were right in it to the end.
"They played a red-hot Brisbane and (in the second quarter) they kicked 6.6 and had 61 entries. I wouldn't say they were out of form.
"They were six goals up against the Giants and then lost three players to injury."
"We certainly understand the form they're in. They've just lacked a little bit of connection, to be honest ... If you're off on your inside game, you don't get your outside game."
Lyon described the Thursday night trip to Geelong as "a unique challenge" but expressed confidence in their ability to travel, having defeated Port Adelaide away and lost away to both Adelaide and Sydney by less than a goal.
"We've played a fair bit of interstate footy and held up really well, so this is another challenge to lean into," Lyon added.
"Stress under load equals growth, right?
"So it gives us an opportunity to grow if we attack the game with the right mentality, which I think we'll do."
See the latest teams for Thursday night's game here.
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
