“The umpires are a bit like us in that they have not had much practice and it was the first time in front of a crowd, not that that should have made a difference, but if they were rusty, I think they did all right.”

The Cats lost captain Joel Selwood to a hamstring injury and youngster Jordan Clark to a dislocated shoulder.

Scott was unsure about the severity of the respective injuries.

Loading

“Joel Selwood has a hamstring issue, which she has talking about on the broadcast and speaking to him and the medical staff, they are optimistic it is not too bad. It always takes time to make that assessment. There was no suggestion of thinking about putting him back on the ground, so that says a little bit," Scott said.

"Jordan Clark had a shoulder dislocation. That is not a great sign. The variation between the minor shoulder dislocation and a severe one is great... We are hoping it is on the minor end. I am not sure yet. Some others might have more clarity.”

Selwood had post-season hamstring surgery last year but Scott said he didn’t think this injury was related to the previous one.

“I would be very surprised if they are related. His hamstring issue is one that he encountered last year and it is unrelated to a muscle strain. I can say with reasonable confidence that this is unrelated to that.”

The Pies’ win came on the back of five goals from returning star Jordan De Goey. Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said he was unsure whether this meant De Goey would continue to play as a forward rather than in the midfield.

“Look, it will be horses for courses. We had good legs in the midfield late in the game and we went to Jack Crisp because Jordan was so forward. Jordan is probably a frustrated midfielder and he would like to be there ultimately and I think that we see him in that capacity in the medium-term but, right now, he is getting five goals in a shortened game in the low-scoring year so we will take that,” Buckley said.

Tall forward Mason Cox was a late omission with Buckley saying the call to choose the shorter John Noble at Cox’s expense had been a “coin toss” because of forecast wet conditions.

The clubs were denied the chance to play a reserves scratch match because of West Australian government restrictions but Scott said he did not have an issue with the government’s decision.