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Coach Men's Senior Coach: Brad Scott

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faible said:
We don't have a lot of alternatives right now; McMahon and Gresham are fit, but neither really move the needle on the pressure front so it's much of a muchness there. Don't think there was any meaningful changes with the players we had available right now that would have improved it.

Kako seems likely this week, Unwin probably a couple of weeks away. Robey as well. I'd like to see a forward line with all of Kako, Unwin, HEA and Robey at some stage this year to see how it looks.
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There was a bit of chatter in jan/feb about ADW good preason, wonder if he will get a look in or if that was a bit of overhyping by the track watchers.
 
joey_jo_jo said:
There was a bit of chatter in jan/feb about ADW good preason, wonder if he will get a look in or if that was a bit of overhyping by the track watchers.
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Given perkins went straight past him, i can see him stuck in the twos unless he has a hot form in front of sticks.
Imagine Brains trust would be keen to get games into Robey...but we have a plethora of medium forwards.
Edwards finds goals easier. Robey more of a midfield beast. Perkins adds flexibility, Langford needs a rocket but when on song can be quality. Now we also have Duursma and Durham who are rotating through half forward.
Gresham and Guelfi experienced candidates, but a bit slow.
Hard to see Day-wicks getting much action unless banging the door down.
 
faible said:
It's not that weird IMO, I think a lot of it is just down to form / availability. We persisted with Gresham despite him being pretty cooked because we didn't really have an alternative.

Guelfi and Gresham have been poor / injured, our mediums and talls aren't all great pressure players and not necessarily the highest IQ footballers. Compare Gunston to basically any of our forwards. Our guys regularly lead in to the same space dragging defenders with them. Hawkins was also excellent at this.

Kako's been injured but would clearly be playing if he was fully fit. Unwin probably the same. HEA and Kako can both find the goals, Unwin has good physical traits to apply pressure. It doesn't necessarily solve the medium & tall forwards not having the same IQ as a Gunston, but it's a start.
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I guess it all boils down to "our list is kinda crap" at end of day.
Im definitely a lot more confident with the sort of players they have selected last three drafts, but ofcourse that will take a couple of years to see actual on field change.
Still think we could use a couple of talls on list that are capable of a contested grab rather than lead up, and more small fwd depth. Probably key backs that arent injured too haha
 

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joey_jo_jo said:
The frustrating thing is we've been here before. Vs cats in 2024 I feel like everyone on this board were pulling their hair out at how tall we went in a rainy game and then scott was bewildered by the lack of pressure applied.
I like alot that his done but selection has always been an issue. IMO either pick the strategy and select the right players for the strategy (even if theyre young/"not ready") or be flexible and tweak the plan based on available players.
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Yep - the issues you have raised are bewildering own goals.
He just needs to cut that shit out.
The team vs Cats in the wet was ridic.
 
joey_jo_jo said:
I guess it all boils down to "our list is kinda crap" at end of day.
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  • part list lacks quality small forwards
  • part team selection selected too many tall marking forwards.
  • part marking forwards don't offer much defensively.

You could say Brad attempt to address by adding Duursma forward and he kicked a goal.
missing kako, is a big out for us. As need his speed at stoppages and in forwardline so we are more of a threat.

Unwin won't be straight in but at least gives us more options in the near future....
Brad Scott is almost Dammed if he selects Gresham this week too.
  • selects him - going back to the well selecting a player that won't take us forward, list clogger
  • not selecting him - your not rewarding VFL performances, he may just check out
 
faible said:
We don't have a lot of alternatives right now; McMahon and Gresham are fit, but neither really move the needle on the pressure front so it's much of a muchness there. Don't think there was any meaningful changes with the players we had available right now that would have improved it.

Kako seems likely this week, Unwin probably a couple of weeks away. Robey as well. I'd like to see a forward line with all of Kako, Unwin, HEA and Robey at some stage this year to see how it looks.
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Realistically it wouldn't have mattered but you can always just pick a ground level player, any ground level player, at the expense of an aerial player and at least know you have the balance right, even if the fit is wonky.
 
faible said:
Kako seems likely this week, Unwin probably a couple of weeks away. Robey as well. I'd like to see a forward line with all of Kako, Unwin, HEA and Robey at some stage this year to see how it looks.
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Imagining this forwardline....its going to be young, but should add more pace and threat at ground level.
hf:Kako Caddy Robey
f: El-Achkar Unwin
 
Zach Package said:
Realistically it wouldn't have mattered but you can always just pick a ground level player, any ground level player, at the expense of an aerial player and at least know you have the balance right, even if the fit is wonky.
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Would only really have been Gresham then, and he's well.... Gresham.
 

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ydc55 said:
I think the next two weeks will decide Brad’s fate.
Losses to Port and North and he is cooked.
What bothers me is I don’t see improvement in our whole ground defence.
Both the stkilda game and the hawthorn game highlighted that.
I also see no imagination or dexterity in his thinking from the coaches box.
He is very passive in his moves and I do not think he has connected with our supporter base.
I think Brad will be happy with the payout and get back to the AFL.
He does not look to me that he has a real enthusiasm or passion for the job both at training and game day.
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How is a loss away to port Adelaide equate to Scott being cooked 😂
 
faible said:
We had almost 0 pressure players in the forwardline on Friday night. Wright & Langford looked about as agile as the titanic, HEA is a first gamer who needs to build his tank (but was actually one of our better Pressure Acts players). Caddy, May and Perkins have the athletic tools to be better than they were on Friday.

For years now we've totally lacked front-half pressure players, the best we've looked was probably when Devon Smith was fit that first season and was an absolute pressure beast in the front half.

The sooner Kako and Unwin are available the better, I'd like to see how we look with Kako, Unwin and HEA all in the side to see whether that helps our full-ground defensive setup look better. Long-term we also need midfielders that run as hard defensively as they do offensively.
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Agree with this.
In an ideal world it would be great to have 2018 Devon Smith and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti again.
100% agree it would be good to see all three you mentioned.
 
andleanback said:
How is a loss away to port Adelaide equate to Scott being cooked 😂
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I said Port Adelaide and North Melbourne.
Port got taken to the cleaners by north last week.
It would be fair to state both clubs are at our level.
Losing to those two clubs would be a tough pill for supporters in MY opinion.
You have every right to disagree and critique my post but your reply was mean spirited and added nothing to an argument.
Disappointing.
 
ydc55 said:
I said Port Adelaide and North Melbourne.
Port got taken to the cleaners by north last week.
It would be fair to state both clubs are at our level.
Losing to those two clubs would be a tough pill for supporters in MY opinion.
You have every right to disagree and critique my post but your reply was mean spirited and added nothing to an argument.
Disappointing.
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I don't reckon we'll know if they're on our level until a bit later in the season and there's a bit more of a win/loss record for all involved.

Personally I suspect we're comfortably below both after all the turning over of the list but time will tell
 
Old Campaigner said:
I don't reckon we'll know if they're on our level until a bit later in the season and there's a bit more of a win/loss record for all involved.

Personally I suspect we're comfortably below both after all the turning over of the list but time will tell
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That’s fair
That means we are bottom three with Richmond and west coast.
I don’t think the club will tolerate that and Scott is finished.
That is just my personal view.
I was in the Scott camp until this year.
I was not crazy about him being away in January* please correct if this is not accurate.
I hate that he lacks imagination in the coaches box.
I dont think he has improved our defensive game one iota and I think he lacks passion and the hard edge you need for the job.
I also do not think he has a good history in his career of developing young talent.
That is going to be an absolute requirement of the job moving forward.
I have to concede that we have the second youngest list in the AFL.
He also may have inherited poor top fifteen talent in tsatas, cox, perkins, Reid and Hobbs.
But a coach has to sell a message of hope.and Brad simply can’t do this and I don’t think he is innovative enough to come up with a game plan required in 2027 and the development tools to improve young players quickly with a game plan that is modern and competitive.
 
ydc55 said:
That’s fair
That means we are bottom three with Richmond and west coast.
I don’t think the club will tolerate that and Scott is finished.
That is just my personal view.
I was in the Scott camp until this year.
I was not crazy about him being away in January* please correct if this is not accurate.
I hate that he lacks imagination in the coaches box.
I dont think he has improved our defensive game one iota and I think he lacks passion and the hard edge you need for the job.
I also do not think he has a good history in his career of developing young talent.
That is going to be an absolute requirement of the job moving forward.
I have to concede that we have the second youngest list in the AFL.
He also may have inherited poor top fifteen talent in tsatas, cox, perkins, Reid and Hobbs.
But a coach has to sell a message of hope.and Brad simply can’t do this and I don’t think he is innovative enough to come up with a game plan required in 2027 and the development tools to improve young players quickly with a game plan that is modern and competitive.
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I’d hope the club accepts that having one of the youngest lists in the league means we’re probably finishing firmly in the bottom 4 and a realistic shot at the spoon. Finishing outside the bottom 4 would be a spectacular achievement and worthy of giving Scott a contract extension.

But otherwise what you’ve outlined also seems fairly plausible too, or maybe we let him see out the contract and not offer him a new one when it ends. I don’t think he’s doing any actual long term damage, and the off field changes he’s been part of are worth persisting with I think
 

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Old Campaigner said:
I’d hope the club accepts that having one of the youngest lists in the league means we’re probably finishing firmly in the bottom 4 and a realistic shot at the spoon. Finishing outside the bottom 4 would be a spectacular achievement and worthy of giving Scott a contract extension.

But otherwise what you’ve outlined also seems fairly plausible too, or maybe we let him see out the contract and not offer him a new one when it ends. I don’t think he’s doing any actual long term damage, and the off field changes he’s been part of are worth persisting with I think
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I agree with your sentiments I just think the powers that be will accept it.
Welsh was at pains to say last year we are not on a massive rebuild and surely we would have traded merrett if we thought we were going to be bottom 3.
Our club seems rudderless to me.
 
ydc55 said:
I agree with your sentiments I just think the powers that be will accept it.
Welsh was at pains to say last year we are not on a massive rebuild and surely we would have traded merrett if we thought we were going to be bottom 3.
Our club seems rudderless to me.
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Massive rebuild could just be in reference to expected time at the bottom.

Starting with the Caddy draft. Next years draft would be the 4th year of this current build. Caddy, Kako, Robey/Sharpe/Farrow being the top 10 picks in that time. Add another pick next season + Bewick and all the academy players coming through and I could see the club being optimistic that this season is “rock bottom” and the last season where a poor finish will be essential to adding talent.

I’ll believe it when I see it, but at a better club this is a timeline you’d expect.
 
I think the discussion about Scott really highlights the broader confusion about what a senior coach’s role is. I don’t mean that to be condescending. It is as clear as mud. Football departments make no sense because the most senior figure in the structure, the football manager, still seems to be subordinate to the coach who seems to have the biggest role and who is the most senior figure in practice.

As we went in the truly professional era coming out of the turn of the century it was clear that too much blame was placed at the feet of senior coaches. But we’ve overcorrected because whereas we used to blame coaches for what were really list management decisions, we’re now excusing coaches for things that are fundamentally coaching issues on the basis of list management decisions.

If all we’re doing is waiting for players to mature, most senior coaches should be members of staff in the way Carlton treated Teague, shouldn’t they? There should be a GM that actually oversees the football department, who is answerable for every bit of its operation and whose head is first on the chopping block when things go wrong – not the bloody assistant coaches. I don’t see how senior coaches can get paid 3 to 8 times the rate of assistants and still escape scrutiny for the obvious failure of their teams to implement plans / play at a professional level / play with the basic intensity expected of professional teams. What is the money for?

You hear it all the time, dumb sides are always just waiting for the kids to grow and become good enough to be able to implement the coach’s plan. It’s never the fault of the coach he just needs more time. But I never really hear or read people explore why the coach should be given more time based on the qualities of that individual. I see a reference to a result in a season gone by but virtually nothing said about the quality of that coach as expressed in a style of play, attitude of players, etc.

The things that I am reading and hearing in Scott’s favour are fundamentally list management issues. He didn’t have the list. He doesn’t have the list. Now we’re waiting for the list to mature. Okay, let’s take that issue of the table and accept it all as being correct, let’s assume that he bears no responsibility for doing 1/10 of **** all for his first 2 seasons in charge.

Doesn’t the question then become ‘why should Scott have the list when it is ready?’ What is he doing that demonstrates to an Essendon fan that he should be given 1 game in charge of Caddy, Kako, Visentini, Sharp, etc when they enter their productive years and not a Steven King, Craig McRae, Adam Kingsley, etc?

Are fans impressed with the consistent application and effort of the team over 4 pre-seasons and 3 completed seasons to date? Has there been any sign that the transition is being improved or that it is even a focus? Has there been any improvement in any aspect of Essendon’s play form Worsfold to Rutten to Scott? 4 pre-seasons is a long time to have been in charge without being able to imprint any discernible system or to even partially correct the teams weaknesses.

He’s not responsible for the football operation, he doesn’t believe it’s his role at all. It’s the reason he sat back and didn’t override the ridiculous re-signings of all of the junk signed in his second year. He had veto power he chose not to exercise. He’s not even a hard task master who is instilling the sort of mentality he had has a player.

If Scott had to explain at a board meeting tomorrow why he is the right man for the job, what tangible thing can he claim that he is responsible for that would convince a board whose concern is having a good coach and not stability for its sake?
 
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faible said:

AFL Match Statistics : Hawthorn defeated by Essendon at MCG Round 1 Sunday, 19th March 2023

Hawthorn defeated by Essendon at MCG Round 1 Sunday, 19th March 2023 AFL match statistics
www.footywire.com www.footywire.com

That's Scotts first game at EFC, 8 guys that played in that match played on the weekend. Which includes guys like Parish & Langford who have spent the last 2 years being injured.

The team playing now is younger and less experienced than it was then, and we've changed recruiting teams which will take some time to flow through.

We've seen this exact same issue recur under multiple head coaches and coaching panels, and multiple fitness departments.

I always thought Dodoro was pretty bog average at his job; able to pick a few decent guys but not a complementary group of players together, but I'm thinking now I've underestimated just how far off he was in picking modern AFL footballers. We've consistently failed to be a team full of competitive beasts for a long time now. We keep demanding the coach instill it in the players, perhaps the guy who was picking the players for 20 years simply didn't pick guys who were competitors and it's created a situation where no head coach is able to make it work.

It'll take time for the guys Rosa has picked to become the core of the team, and even then maybe Rosa will fail, but changing head coaches won't change the outcome so long as the current core isn't built around competitors.
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Many good points. Dodo was a joke and fluffed the club in poor talent identification, legacy contracts to ordinary players, but also being a political animal that was nigh on impossible to move, and probably even stuffed us in other ways that we can’t see from the outside.

That said though, my frustration with Brad is the senior players seem to be the ones that sag off and don’t get involved in transition, as much or more than the young guys. This is why I question what he’s actually teaching, or how it is being taught, because very few players seem to want defend full stop.

I just desperately hope that he’s not teaching / allowing a lack of transition defence to the next generation, that’s all.
He may very well be teaching it well, but then why don’t the players either listen or apply what’s taught? Whether I personally want him to stay or go, if we keep getting pumped by 100 points week-in and week-out, I’m not sure he sees out the season.
 
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