AFL great questions Chris Scott's delayed Max Holmes decision in Geelong's preliminary final loss

Geelong coach Chris Scott has come under scrutiny for the delayed substitution of Cats superstar Max Holmes after the midfielder spent too long on the sidelines waiting for a decision. In one of the great preliminary AFL finals, the Lions emerged victorious with a 10-point win over Geelong having battled back after half-time.

Although the delayed call on Holmes and whether to sub him out of the game appeared to cost the Cats. In the third-quarter, Holmes appeared to hurt his hamstring when he slipped attempting to kick the ball of the ground on a slippery MCG surface.

Holmes hobbled to the sideline and was attended to as he tried to shake off the injury. Holmes spent more than 15 minutes getting treatment as the Lions fought back from a 25-point deficit. After Holmes returned in the fourth-quarter, the star kicked the ball and realised he couldn't continue as he exited the game with the Lions leading by one-point.

The move proved costly for Geelong with Scott admitting it was a loss for the team to see one of their best players - with. 20 disposals - leave the game. "But that's a reflection of how good a player he is I think, more than the reshuffle through our midfield," Scott said in his post-match press conference.

"I thought he was dominating the game, wasn't he? So yeah, it hurt a bit. And again, glass half-full, I'm looking forward to the next 10 years of Max Holmes playing in the hoops.

"So yeah, it stings a bit at the moment. And there were others as well." However, Matthew Lloyd went one step further and questioned whether the delay cost Geelong the game.

"I wonder if this cost them the game. Should they have just made the hard call on Max Holmes? Because I reckon for 20 minutes they were short a player," Lloyd said on Channel Nine. "You could see in his face, he was shaking his head...I think Mitch Duncan should have been on earlier."

Holmes missed the 2022 AFL grand final for Geelong and now won't have to wait to find out if he would have played after the loss. However, Lloyd claimed it shouldn't have been about Holmes in that moment.

"Now the whole team is missing a grand final. I think you get him off and go let's see what happens during the week," Lloyd added.

Chris Scott admits to 'uncertainty' over Max Holmes call

Speaking after the match, Scott admitted he was uncertain on whether to make a call on the substitution. He also claimed he didn't think the injury was that serious. "It's a little bit difficult to explain," Scott said.

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"Obviously that hasn't been our focus in the immediate aftermath and we tend to not ask for great detail when it comes to the communication around injured players. Now, I don't think it's serious, necessarily, but there was enough uncertainty there for him to be off the ground for a long period of time and certainly enough uncertainty for us to not make our sub.

"It was certainly a frustrating period there for everyone but in terms of a full and complete explanation, I can't really give you one at the moment other than to say he was concerned about it and it took a bit of time to work through." Regardless of Holmes' injury, the Lions came out on a mission in the second-half as they hunted down the Cats to overturn a 25-point deficit.