Chris Scott has thrown his support behind an out-of-form Jeremy Cameron, as the club legend and dual Coleman Medallist looks to traverse his current footballing mire.
"Jezza" was clearly below his best against the Lions on Thursday night, and has seen his form fluctuate at different stages of his sixth season in the hoops.
His 39 goals are good for equal-third most in the league, but his 10 of those came in one outing, and his general impact on a given contest has waned significantly in recent weeks, and most alarmingly, those outings have come against the competition's forerunners.
Scott backs his spearhead to respond, and is contemplating becoming more involved with process of igniting such a response.
“We tend to give our champions a little bit more room than maybe some others, and we're really confident that he'll find his way through it," Scott said in his post-match press conference.
"If he can't in the short term, then we'll think about how we help him through it even more, but it's a strange situation for us to be talking about given how good he's been for us.
"He's going through a bit of a flat spot at the moment - there's no doubt about that. But I do remember getting these questions the week before he kicked 11, so if he doesn't kick at least 10 next week, I'll be flat."
Asked whether or not Cameron could be utilised further up the ground, given his previously displayed prowess in a wing role, for example, Scott said the 33-year-old has the freedom to play where he sees fit - for now.
"I and our coaching group don't coach him to within an inch of his life. He has a fair bit of control over where (positionally) he feels best, and that's the case at the moment. Maybe I might get a bit more involved," he pondered.
Asked again whether Cameron's troublesome arm is hindering his performances, Scott reiterated the club's performance policy, to insinuate that the lingering effects of the injury sustained in last year's grand final are not a factor.
"We do not play players that we do not think can perform. I'm making a habit of saying this because I feel more strongly about it than I did even four or five years ago. The fact that a player can get out there to play doesn't mean that he should.”
Having won just one of their last five fixtures, Scott called for context to be considered when analysing where his side are at, while bemoaning the inequity that is an unfortunate reality of the fixture as it is presently constructed.
"The fixture's quirky," Scott said.
"I wish it wasn't this way, but gee luck plays a role in the game these days. If you just isolate that to when you play certain teams - you could play one team twice, and they're just going horribly, and that's just luck. Or you could run into some hot teams who have been a bit up and down.
"Context is important, but you shouldn't mistake my observations for us being okay with it (the losses). We still think that we're going well enough to beat anyone, anywhere, and we've had the chance to do that over the last five weeks."
The Cats' chance to respond to their most recent loss comes in the form of a rendezvous with Cameron's former side, the GWS Giants, in enemy territory, next Saturday.
