Geelong's Tom Stewart will be the heartbreak story of the 2025 grand final after he was concussed during Friday night's preliminary final, ruling him out of the decider.
The Cats advanced to the last Saturday in September with a damning win over arch rivals Hawthorn by 30 points at the MCG.
Calls for the pre-finals bye to be moved have seethed through the AFL landscape, and it is something new league football boss Greg Swann is weighing up.
Stewart was concussed following a bone-crushing tackle from Hawks forward Mabior Chol in the first quarter.
"Generally in these situations, you change your mind depending on what it means for you," Geelong coach Scott said of Stewart.
"So I'm very pro a week off before the Grand Final, if we can sneak that in this year.
"In a perverse way, it's black and white. We know (he's not playing), he knows - it's a shattering situation for him…
"I don't want to give a strong opinion, it's more an observation that others have made; if there has to be one, before the Grand Final would be better."
Ironically, Swann flagged a change to when the pre-finals bye would be set in the future, noting that concussion is the big advocate for it being in between the preliminary and grand final.
Tom Stewart has come from the ground following this contest.#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/rwmGkHqk4u
— AFL (@AFL) September 19, 2025
"There's a little bit of that," Swann said earlier this month on SEN.
"But Sydney and Brisbane played in a Grand Final (in 2024), and we had a chat about it. It's more to do with somebody getting concussed (in the preliminary final) and not being able to play (in the Grand Final).
"That's why we think that bye would be better off before the Grand Final."
Geelong are also hopeful that key defender Jack Henry is available for next week after he was helped from the ground with a suspected foot injury, although he managed to play out the remainder of the game.
The Cats will await their opponents as Collingwood and Brisbane face off for a spot in the grand final.
