Former Essendon coach Brad Scott has admitted he was 'blindsided' by the decision to remove him from his coaching position, despite the club's dismal performance this season. In his third year at the helm, Scott recorded 29 wins, 46 losses, and a single draw. Under his leadership, the Bombers managed just one win in their last 24 games and currently sit dead last in the league with only four points.
Scott's Reaction to the Sacking
Despite the poor run of form, Scott felt he deserved more time given the scale of the rebuilding project at the club. 'I suppose I was blindsided. We're going through a difficult period clearly, but it hasn't felt any different to other weeks,' he told the Agenda Setters. 'I've been really well supported over a really long period of time with the plan we put in place.'
Scott explained that the entire staff had aligned on the strategy, making the sacking feel like business as usual until the decision was made. 'All the key people were a part of that plan and building that plan, so it felt business as usual to me. We clearly articulated the risk going into this season and the difficulty we may face, but we believe in the plan and I still believe in the plan. I was committed to seeing it through, and committed to the playing group and all the players we re-contracted as part of that plan. So yeah, it was surprising, but in a way, I've been in this industry a long time and it wasn't surprising because pressure does strange things.'
Disagreement Over Zach Merrett
Scott also spoke about the decision to retain Zach Merrett, describing it as a club decision with which he did not agree. 'That was a club decision, to retain Zach,' he began. When asked by Kane Cornes if he thought it was the right call, Scott responded, 'no.' He elaborated: 'My view was that Zach had given incredible service to the Essendon football club. He had been through multiple strategies and multiple coaches. My view is always you invest in the team and you put the team first, and Zach found that really hard to do at the end of last year. I felt for him and I felt for his family. I didn't think he was being selfish; I thought he had been promised things over and over again and he was at his wits' end and he couldn't invest in the team anymore. We should have let him go, but the club view is we should keep him, and what the club's view is, is my view and I fronted that.'
Strategic Approach and Fan Reaction
Scott also opened up about the strategic approach from within the club, acknowledging that he expected fans to dislike it. 'It's attack the draft, forgo older more experienced players to bring in draft picks and build the list organically from the bottom up. This was another huge challenge of the job, in that it is very difficult to simultaneously articulate that we are rebuilding while trying to galvanise a group of senior players that we want to win every week. To explain to your supporters that we want to win every week but it's going to be hard.'
He continued: 'When we embarked on that strategy, I thought, "gee the supporters are going to hate me," because it's going to be hard and we are vulnerable. But I wanted to embark on a strategy that Essendon hadn't embarked on this century, and I knew the odds of seeing it through are slim. The supporters are going to hate this, and it's going to be hard. Why would you do this? And the answer was because it was the right thing to do, and I still think it was the right thing to do. In time, when the supporters see these kids come together, the supporters might look back and think, "maybe we don't hate him as much now." '
