Coach Men's Senior Coach: Brad Scott

[naraku]

Was this loss THAT unexpected?

'Aints knocked off two teams there expected to be in and around the finals so far this year. Or last seasons 5th and 8th (ladder).

They'll do their typical fail and miss finals still I think.

We knocked off a team that many would have as bottom 2 with lolnorf and a team you would have in the next handful of scrubs which unfortunately includes us. Or last seasons 12th and 13th.

That said

It stings a bit more because we usually beat the Aints, but the thing I take away is Scott seems to of put some steel into the side. All 3 game's so far, there were instances we would of "Essington" and would likely be 0-3 under Rutten and Worsfold.
That first quarter cost us, but I was pleased to see some form of contest after that and not take a 50+ point loss to those campaigners.

 

[dank420_]

see below

Oh awesome another Yoda post

 

[boncer34]

to be fair, read the posts after and was a little misguided from the initial post.

Maybe read all the posts before diving in

 

[Yoda_]

Maybe read all the posts before diving in

noted

 

[Lore]

Rd 3 | Scott post-game

Watch Essendon's press conference after round three's match against St Kilda.

www.essendonfc.com.au

Article that they put up with the presser video is stingy as so here's a full transcript:

Did well to get back in the game, drew level. Did they spend their petrol ticket there? Where was it lost in the end?

Where was it lost... I mean two periods where they got on a roll and probably kicked 10 of their 14 goals in a short space of time, once at the start of the game and towards the end of the game. There's a couple of ways to look at it, we were really badly beaten in the contest early and Wilkie was really dominant early. We arrested that and made some changes both in personnel and just general fight and willingness to compete. So you give a side like St Kilda who defend really well a 34 point start it's going to be hard to peg them back, so disappointing start but I'm really pleased with the fight and the effort to turn it around. To St Kilda's credit, they were very good and when we challenged them they responded. That's what good sides do, and they're a good side.

How do you explain the start, two 50 metre penalties and obviously they put on five goals, 50m penalties that gave them goals early?

Yeah the 50m penalties, one was sort of protected area running the boundary line, yeah... but they were still shots at goal, it just made certainties of it. I was more concerned about how the ball was getting there. We didn't have any penetration in our game early, they pressured us well and every time we went forward Wilkie or another St Kilda defender marked it. So while Jake Stringer

20

Jake Stringer

Age

30

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.9

3star

K

8.5

3star

HB

4.4

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.5

4star

G

1.8

5star

D

8.5

2star

K

7.0

3star

HB

1.5

1star

M

2.8

3star

T

3.8

4star

G

2.5

5star

D

7.2

2star

K

4.8

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.4

4star

G

1.4

5star

probably didn't have his best ever game, he changed the look of the game for us by playing deep and at least competing with Wilkie, and when we could bring it to ground we looked pretty dangerous forward. There were a lot of positives to come out of the game. While we're really disappointed to lose I think a lot of sides, particularly young sides, when you get 34 points down in the first quarter the capitulation can sometimes come pretty quickly. And you know, we certainly didn't capitulate and we are disappointed we couldn't keep the momentum going when we got back on level pegging, but as I said all credit to St Kilda because they responded when they needed to.

Did you consider starting Langford forward again? Was there much thought around that decision?

Yeah there always is, you know you're looking at your mix, Jones, Weideman, Stringer, Langford against a side that's got Sinclair, Wanganeen-Milera, potentially Hill going back there as well. They can bounce it out of there pretty quickly as well. So it's that balance between week to week opposition. But this week we felt we really needed pressure on the ball in the forward half. And it's pretty hard to pressure the ball when they're marking it.

Massimo D'Ambrosio seemed to step up when the other half-backs were quiet. What did you think of his performance?

Uh yeah I want to review it pretty closely because you know you can look at the numbers sometimes: Butler kicked 4, Higgins kicked 4. It's more how they kicked them. Modern footy has gone past direct opponents and you play on him and judge a game on how he's gone. There are so many rotations, and when you do play a team style defence it's not going to be who on who at what stage. So I think there are some pleasing signs there but also some concerning signs there with the way we defended their smalls.

Why did you start Parish on the bench? And was there a rationale for that Brad given when he went on he seemed to create some liveliness in the centre square?

Yeah, you've got to start someone on the bench. We tend to look at that and if you're running a few match-ups then something falls out of that and you prioritise different things. He's had a really good start to the year for us. So this stuff about who starts on the bench and they come on the ground on the first five minutes. I wouldn't read anything into that.

Sam Draper had a pretty big job up against Rowan Marshall

19

Rowan Marshall

Age

29

Ht

201cm

Wt

105kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.4

4star

K

8.8

3star

HB

6.6

4star

CL

3.4

5star

HO

20.2

5star

D

12.9

3star

K

9.3

4star

HB

3.6

2star

CL

2.8

4star

HO

17.8

5star

D

10.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

4.8

4star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

7.8

5star

, what did you make of that battle?

Good battle, two really good players going at it. Both only had sort-of limited support so it was largely that contest. I thought Draper really swung the momentum our way at the start of the last quarter. He was really important. But Marshall had his moments too, marked the ball well. So yeah, good contest. Not too dissimilar to the Witts-Draper contest last week for us. Drapes is very good at times but Marshall is a very good player and he did good things too.

Jake Kelly

29

Jake Kelly

Age

29

Ht

190cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.5

4star

K

8.3

3star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.6

4star

MG

157.8

2star

D

8.1

2star

K

6.3

3star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.6

4star

MG

104.1

2star

D

14.8

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

5.8

4star

M

6.0

5star

T

4.2

5star

MG

107.0

2star

came from the ground grabbing his hamstring during the second quarter I think, how was he after the game?

Yeah you always worry when you see that, but he didn't even want to come off. He just had a bit of a cramp and played out the game no worries. No other injuries to report.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

Geez, he really didn't want to praise Mass at all...

 

[Lore]

Geez, he really didn't want to praise Mass at all...

At least not at the expense of the other half-backs. Some of the pivots are interesting, it's like he has 5 things he wants to say and if they don't ask he'll just shoehorn it into a response

 

[Bjchan13]

Geez, he really didn't want to praise Mass at all...

How could you when their smalls kicked 8 goals?

 

[bombadeer]

At least not at the expense of the other half-backs. Some of the pivots are interesting, it's like he has 5 things he wants to say and if they don't ask he'll just shoehorn it into a response

Control the narrative. Smart operator!

 

[ghostdog]

And my posts in this thread have been all about team selection.

So yes, it's a moot point, because you are talking about something different.

If you bothered to read the thread you would of seen that.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Sorry for not following your posts bruh. You need to relax.

 

[bomberlegend2007]

And my posts in this thread have been all about team selection.

So yes, it's a moot point, because you are talking about something different.

If you bothered to read the thread you would of seen that.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

To be honest, I don’t really trust someone’s judgement if they are using a Pixel 6.

 

[TheGrizz]

Hate to say it, but a reasonable signed demerit last night for starting Langford back.

We looked so much more functional in attack with him forward to start the 4th.

 

[TheGrizz]

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the soft drop. ‘Managed’

I imagine there will be a phantom calf injury at training one day, maybe a 2-3 weeker so no one blinks when he misses a month.

By that time Scott has the leeway to say that they intended for Hpp to be best 22, but his spot has been taken by someone doing a good job, and selection integrity etcetera.

And honestly I hope that is how we do it. He is cooked but he still deserves to be saved from the humiliation of being dropped and never seen again.

 

[Maddogm]

This place after a loss requires Benny Hill music turned up to 11

Nah, that's too upbeat

 

[MiguelM]

Scott dropped Brent Harvey

Brent Harvey

Age

46

Ht

167cm

Wt

75kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

13.2

5star

HB

8.2

5star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.1

4star

G

1.2

4star

No current season stats available

D

6.0

2star

K

3.0

1star

HB

3.0

3star

M

1.2

2star

T

0.6

3star

G

0.6

3star

needs to do the same with Hepp.

He has been given every chance and is miles from being competitive.

If Hepp was as team oriented as they say, he would drop himself. The surprise at being subbed says to me he is living in fantasy land.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

Ok everyone the loss on the weekend had nothing to do with Brad, it was the soooky twin.

Dark horse’s big statement; shock fail we never saw coming: AFL Report Card

Dark horse’s big statement; shock fail we never saw coming: AFL Report Card

www.foxsports.com.au

ESSENDON

Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

and company finally suffered their first loss of the season in falling to the Saints, although the Bombers went down swinging in a gutsy effort. It included Essendon erasing a 34-point deficit to draw scores level during the fourth quarter before St Kilda kicked away late. The 2-1 Bombers will now hope to bounce back against the Giants this week.

God, why do you hate us???????

 

[citizen-erased]

Ok everyone the loss on the weekend had nothing to do with Brad, it was the soooky twin.

Dark horse’s big statement; shock fail we never saw coming: AFL Report Card

Dark horse’s big statement; shock fail we never saw coming: AFL Report Card

www.foxsports.com.au

ESSENDON

Chris Scott and company finally suffered their first loss of the season in falling to the Saints, although the Bombers went down swinging in a gutsy effort. It included Essendon erasing a 34-point deficit to draw scores level during the fourth quarter before St Kilda kicked away late. The 2-1 Bombers will now hope to bounce back against the Giants this week.

God, why do you hate us???????

"when the game was there to be one in the fourth quarter"

Where is God when you need smoting to be done.
FML

 

[yodellinhank]

At least not at the expense of the other half-backs. Some of the pivots are interesting, it's like he has 5 things he wants to say and if they don't ask he'll just shoehorn it into a response

Using the press conference to sell a message. If only I'd have thought of that

 

[Lore]

Using the press conference to sell a message. If only I'd have thought of that
View attachment 1648608

tbf one probably had state of the art media training as part of the role at AFL hq

the other got to ride shotgun with John Worsfold whose signature move was to say nothing at all

 

[ghostdog]

tbf one probably had state of the art media training as part of the role at AFL hq

the other got to ride shotgun with John Worsfold whose signature move was to say nothing at all

So what you're saying is it comes down to learnings.

 

[ant555]

This place after a loss requires Benny Hill music turned up to 11

Yep and it has not changed since I was a mod and having to read it all. The fact i came back and did the job twice probably says a lot about me

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

When pushed this season they haven't shut down and haven't been afraid to play aggressive when momentum was against them. See how that goes when they come up against the real deal but so far they seem committed to the game plan.

 

[bombreys]

Heppell is the prime example of the lack of leadership we have at this club. If we had leaders on every line, he wouldn’t even be playing this year.

You can’t blame Scott, he had the balls to drop Brent Harvey ffs. I don’t think he is worried about having the tough convo.

Essendon will 100% be trading for leadership this off season to avoid this exact situation.

I think he is though, otherwise he would have had the convo. If he plays Heppell this week, after probably the worst game of his career (and a loss) when we have younger, better players ready to come in, it’ll become a real issue.

We’ve needed leadership for 3+ seasons and haven’t traded for it - I’d bet we don’t again this offseason

 

[yodellinhank]

When pushed this season they haven't shut down and haven't been afraid to play aggressive when momentum was against them. See how that goes when they come up against the real deal but so far they seem committed to the game plan.

Football players could not possibly understand a game plan, let alone commit to one, in such a short period of time. They are very complex things.

 

[Seb78]

Still early days re Scott. I think we'll get a better indication of the influence he's had come round 6 or 7.

From what I've seen so far, the defensive pressure across the ground in particular from the small forwards and mids seems to have lifted a bit, and we seem to be a bit more methodical with our ball use when pressed. Obviously not perfect, but can definitely see improvements. (Just need our forwards to present a little better and lead)

The inclusion of Setterfield in the middle with his bigger body and defensive nouse, has made Shiel & Parish better players imo. Both, in particular Shiel have been awesome so far imo.

McGrath down back looks more natural, and whilst his disposal by foot can be a bit sketchy at times, defending comes a little more natural to him imo.

Scott still wouldn't know what his best team looks like, what works and what doesn't from a game plan/style pov.
i still think we are heading in the right direction, but will take time.