Coach Men's Senior Coach: Brad Scott - Playing the kids!

[JayJ20]

Scott identified defence as an issue at the beginning of 2023 and it hasn't improved at all. The midfield has certainly improved, but why is it so difficult to teach Essendon players to defend?
Is it a list issue? Is it an individual player issue? Is it a coaching issue? Is it a culture issue?
How will it be fixed? What steps are being taken to fix it?

I'd like to hear Scott's response to these questions because it should be the bare minimum, yet the players don't run and don't position themselves to force a stoppage or a turnover to stop teams from going coast-to-coast.

 

[Rick Ross]

Scott identified defence as an issue at the beginning of 2023 and it hasn't improved at all. The midfield has certainly improved, but why is it so difficult to teach Essendon players to defend?
Is it a list issue? Is it an individual player issue? Is it a coaching issue? Is it a culture issue?
How will it be fixed? What steps are being taken to fix it?

I'd like to hear Scott's response to these questions because it should be the bare minimum, yet the players don't run and don't position themselves to force a stoppage or a turnover to stop teams from going coast-to-coast.

Tonight I thought we went from worst defensive transition team in the comp (2023) to middle of the road. Sydney are one of the best running / spread teams in the AFL so it frustrates & needs to improve but we didn’t sh1t the bed like those soul destroying last few games in 2023.

 

[ant555]

Scott identified defence as an issue at the beginning of 2023 and it hasn't improved at all. The midfield has certainly improved, but why is it so difficult to teach Essendon players to defend?
Is it a list issue? Is it an individual player issue? Is it a coaching issue? Is it a culture issue?
How will it be fixed? What steps are being taken to fix it?

I'd like to hear Scott's response to these questions because it should be the bare minimum, yet the players don't run and don't position themselves to force a stoppage or a turnover to stop teams from going coast-to-coast.

Reasons.

1. Leadership depth. Not enough hard edge genuine leaders to drive it on field.

2. Our forward line is very slow leg speed wise and they get burnt going the other way. Speedy defenders always give us trouble as our blokes big and small lack pace. We can not hold the footy inside 50 enough and it allows the wave or overlap run.

3. kicking the ball to the opposition inside 50 is a sure fire way to be chasing going back the other way as a lot of players are out of position and not transitioned into defense.

4. it does take a lot of defensive mined players to drive the team defense. It may sound very simpleton but there is a level you can teach and some guys get it and some do not. It comes down to transition time . How quick do they switch on to defense after attack or after the ball leaves there area. Trust me you have to find these guys because there is only so far you can teach it. It has to be almost a reflex. Right now we have a lot of blokes that have some lag in transition. They know they have to do it but the brain does not work quick enough and in that split second the opposition is gone.

5. for some reason we over cook attempting pressure and have too many blokes charging into contests they can not get to and this is also something that is hard to get players to stop doing in the heat of battle


I spent a lot of years working as an assistant / development coach at Div 1 under 18 and 16 level and every year you would have at least half your group change so there was a lot of teaching involved and sometimes you had groups who got it easily and other times it was a lost cause.
You needed guys who it was in their nature to do it or where quick enough thinkers in the game and then you needed the leaders to drive it on the park. It is the same at AFL level even though you are dealing with top end footballers.

You ask is it a list issue or an individual player issue or a culture issue then IMO all of the above. Our culture has been shot for years. We had a number of years where players just ran their own race and did their own thing. That is the culture that the next generation has learnt from.

Is it a coaching issue. I am not sure it is. You can not have as many senior and assistant coaches as we have had in the last 15 years who have all continually said we need to play better team defense yet we get nowhere. They can not all be dud teachers. I will say Worsfold did not help it by saying it but then just throwing it over to the players and telling them to drive it without leaders that where able to drive it and leaders / senior players who could or would actually do it.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Reasons.

1. Leadership depth. Not enough hard edge genuine leaders to drive it on field.

2. Our forward line is very slow leg speed wise and they get burnt going the other way. Speedy defenders always give us trouble as our blokes big and small lack pace. We can not hold the footy inside 50 enough and it allows the wave or overlap run.

3. kicking the ball to the opposition inside 50 is a sure fire way to be chasing going back the other way as a lot of players are out of position and not transitioned into defense.

4. it does take a lot of defensive mined players to drive the team defense. It may sound very simpleton but there is a level you can teach and some guys get it and some do not. It comes down to transition time . How quick do they switch on to defense after attack or after the ball leaves there area. Trust me you have to find these guys because there is only so far you can teach it. It has to be almost a reflex. Right now we have a lot of blokes that have some lag in transition. They know they have to do it but the brain does not work quick enough and in that split second the opposition is gone.

5. for some reason we over cook attempting pressure and have too many blokes charging into contests they can not get to and this is also something that is hard to get players to stop doing in the heat of battle


I spent a lot of years working as an assistant / development coach at Div 1 under 18 and 16 level and every year you would have at least half your group change so there was a lot of teaching involved and sometimes you had groups who got it easily and other times it was a lost cause.
You needed guys who it was in their nature to do it or where quick enough thinkers in the game and then you needed the leaders to drive it on the park. It is the same at AFL level even though you are dealing with top end footballers.

You ask is it a list issue or an individual player issue or a culture issue then IMO all of the above. Our culture has been shot for years. We had a number of years where players just ran their own race and did their own thing. That is the culture that the next generation has learnt from.

Is it a coaching issue. I am not sure it is. You can not have as many senior and assistant coaches as we have had in the last 15 years who have all continually said we need to play better team defense yet we get nowhere. They can not all be dud teachers. I will say Worsfold did not help it by saying it but then just throwing it over to the players and telling them to drive it without leaders that where able to drive it and leaders / senior players who could or would actually do it.

I think to turn it around you need a number of things:
1. A coach willing to set a standard for defensive effort and hold players to account via team selection and (more long term) list management
2. A leader who similarly sets a standard, and who lives by it.
3. A core group of senior players or regulars in the AFL side who echo the messages about standards from up the chain. This is where it becomes less a directive and more of a cultural trait.
4. A number of depth players who aren't exactly AFL standard necessarily but who live and breath the standards set within the club. If someone shirks their responsibilities or isn't living up to the standard expected of them it's these guys who can come in to replace them.
5. A group of coachable, impressionable kids coming through. These are the next generation, they'll have their flaws but from top to bottom of the club there's pressure and/or encouragement to live by certain standards. I think you really need to get to these guys in their first couple of years at the club, if they start getting regular games without having fully internalised what is expected of them I think it weakens culture.

Building those things up is going to take a lot of time but I also think we have a number of pieces already in place.

 

[ant555]

I think to turn it around you need a number of things:
1. A coach willing to set a standard for defensive effort and hold players to account via team selection and (more long term) list management
2. A leader who similarly sets a standard, and who lives by it.
3. A core group of senior players or regulars in the AFL side who echo the messages about standards from up the chain. This is where it becomes less a directive and more of a cultural trait.
4. A number of depth players who aren't exactly AFL standard necessarily but who live and breath the standards set within the club. If someone shirks their responsibilities or isn't living up to the standard expected of them it's these guys who can come in to replace them.
5. A group of coachable, impressionable kids coming through. These are the next generation, they'll have their flaws but from top to bottom of the club there's pressure and/or encouragement to live by certain standards. I think you really need to get to these guys in their first couple of years at the club, if they start getting regular games without having fully internalised what is expected of them I think it weakens culture.

Building those things up is going to take a lot of time but I also think we have a number of pieces already in place.

And if you look at how Melbourne did exactly that from when Roos / Goodwin / Mahoney / Taylor started it took 9 seasons to win a GF and only two players who where on the list when they took over played in that GF .
This was after the build after they had a run of top end picks that didn’t work.
Taylor’s mantra was competitor first .

It is hard to force standards at selection when a lot of the key players are making the mistakes along with the younger ones you need to get game time in . It is not as basic as saying drop the blokes who get it wrong.

 

[Kong]

You should hear the pain in his voice when he calls Wheatley on SEN . Even Gerrard has commented on hearing the pain / frustration in his voice

Link?

 

[jdBombers3598]

And if you look at how Melbourne did exactly that from when Roos / Goodwin / Mahoney / Taylor started it took 9 seasons to win a GF and only two players who where on the list when they took over played in that GF .
This was after the build after they had a run of top end picks that didn’t work.
Taylor’s mantra was competitor first .

It is hard to force standards at selection when a lot of the key players are making the mistakes along with the younger ones you need to get game time in . It is not as basic as saying drop the blokes who get it wrong.

"Competitor first" This is why we need to get Dudoro out the door now, he simply doesn't value competitiveness and drive when recruiting players. Yeah we got Hobbs who is a competitor, only took 23 odd years. We need more of them

 

[bomberlegend2007]

View attachment 1938031

"Competitor first" This is why we need to get Dudoro out the door now, he simply doesn't value competitiveness and drive when recruiting players. Yeah we got Hobbs who is a competitor, only took 23 odd years. We need more of them

By all reports, both Roberts and Caddy are two competitors as well.

 

[ant555]

View attachment 1938031

"Competitor first" This is why we need to get Dudoro out the door now, he simply doesn't value competitiveness and drive when recruiting players. Yeah we got Hobbs who is a competitor, only took 23 odd years. We need more of them

I would not argue with him going but he is not making the decisions now other than to do the contracts that Scott and co want him to do. I agree with you. Competitive has not always been high on our radar.

 

[ant555]

Link?

I suppose they would be there in the podcasts of Wheatley previous shows but I have no idea of the dates and I am not listening to 3 years of the show to find it

 

[jdBombers3598]

Still, his presence must be completely removed from the club, even if he's not making the decisions he can still have an influence

 

[mike ross]

With the Swans calling our physical performance a charade, they're basically saying we are a soft footy club imo. Hopefully the club uses this like they did in the late nineties and spark a real change at the club. And I have a feeling Scott will.

 

[Old Campaigner]

With the Swans calling our physical performance a charade, they're basically saying we are a soft footy club imo. Hopefully the club uses this like they did in the late nineties and spark a real change at the club. And I have a feeling Scott will.

It's probably getting written on a whiteboard in permanent marker as we speak

 

[Mercurial89]

With the Swans calling our physical performance a charade, they're basically saying we are a soft footy club imo. Hopefully the club uses this like they did in the late nineties and spark a real change at the club. And I have a feeling Scott will.

They are right.
We know it's not in these players natures to do it without forcing it. It's not them.

However,
Hopefully they continue to do it and even if it is forced it starts to be a standard for younger guys coming through, that's where you target it as a quality in drafts and it begins to become who you are.

 

[ghostdog]

With the Swans calling our physical performance a charade, they're basically saying we are a soft footy club imo. Hopefully the club uses this like they did in the late nineties and spark a real change at the club. And I have a feeling Scott will.

Yep. I loved it. It means they don't like playing us.

 

[ghostdog]

They are right.
We know it's not in these players natures to do it without forcing it. It's not them.

However,
Hopefully they continue to do it and even if it is forced it starts to be a standard for younger guys coming through, that's where you target it as a quality in drafts and it begins to become who you are.

Two weeks in a row the boys have stood up for their mates if there was a scuffle on. You wouldn't have seen that under Dyson a couple of years ago. It's not football, but it does show an attitude shift which points to a culture shift. So while it sounds wanky, standing our ground and playing on the edge (ie., just within the rule of what's acceptable) is a welcome change to me.

 

[jdBombers3598]

With the Swans calling our physical performance a charade, they're basically saying we are a soft footy club imo. Hopefully the club uses this like they did in the late nineties and spark a real change at the club. And I have a feeling Scott will.

They know we've been soft in the past and were expecting the same yesterday. I think they were a bit shocked and didn't like it, which is good.

 

[EnolaGay]

With the Swans calling our physical performance a charade, they're basically saying we are a soft footy club imo. Hopefully the club uses this like they did in the late nineties and spark a real change at the club. And I have a feeling Scott will.

Just gives me another reason to hate Papley.

I hope we smoke them when we play them in Melbourne in R23.

 

[jdBombers3598]

Just gives me another reason to hate Papley.

I hope we smoke them when we play them in Melbourne in R23.

I want to see someone get cleaned up. Papley Heeney or Rampe, dont care which one, they're all shitstains

 

[yodellinhank]

Two weeks in a row the boys have stood up for their mates if there was a scuffle on. You wouldn't have seen that under Dyson a couple of years ago. It's not football, but it does show an attitude shift which points to a culture shift. So while it sounds wanky, standing our ground and playing on the edge (ie., just within the rule of what's acceptable) is a welcome change to me.

This day and age free kicks are given away so quickly

 

[EnolaGay]

Keep the edginess up Brad, in fact dial it up more. We're not contesting this season, might as well build a combative culture and sort out who's in and who's out.

 

[ghostdog]

This day and age free kicks are given away so quickly

I'm okay with it occasionally. I look at it as a kind of long term investment in the psyche of the team and our opponents when they think of how aggressively we'll play.

 

[Shanghaistu]

I want to see someone get cleaned up. Papley Heeney or Rampe, dont care which one, they're all shitstains

I’ll be cheering for their opposition most weeks, (other than probably Carlton or Hawthorn )

 

[yodellinhank]

I'm okay with it occasionally. I look at it as a kind of long term investment in the psyche of the team and our opponents when they think of how aggressively we'll play.

The hardness and the firmness and what you're talking about with being a 'nice' football team, it's not about giving away free kicks or showing full-blown aggression

 

[citizen-erased]

The hardness and the firmness and what you're talking about with being a 'nice' football team, it's not about giving away free kicks or showing full-blown aggression

Slight over correction but I don't mind it.