Sacked Essendon coach Brad Scott admits he was blindsided by the club’s decision to move him on, even though he was abundantly aware of the escalating pressure.
Scott also told Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters that he had been disappointed by the constant leaking from within the club that put him in an “untenable position” to speak to his players after the decision was made to move him on.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Brad Scott blindsided by shock coaching call
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“It was surprising (to be sacked), but in a way, I’ve been in this industry for a long time, it’s not surprising because pressure does strange things,” Scott told The Agenda Setters.
Scott was then put on the spot when asked how did the media know more about his fate and tenuous position than him.
“Ah … well, you guys are very good at your job,” Scott said.
AFL expert Kane Cornes asked: “Are you disappointed with the leaks from the club?”
“Oh, well … the disappointment … I sort of unfortunately have come to expect it a little bit. It’s been a challenge at Essendon over the journey,” Scott told The Agenda Setters.
“But the frustrating thing about this was that, I spoke to (club president Andrew Welsh) last night. We were going to catch up at 7.30 this morning. We were going to hold it tight.
“There are only eight people who knew, plus the media manager. And then (the plan was) I’d get the opportunity to speak to the players … but at 7.30 in the morning the players already knew because everyone knew.
“So it meant it made it untenable to go to the club and speak to the players, so that’ll have to come a bit later.”
Scott also revealed that it was his belief that Essendon should have let Zach Merrett go when the former captain requested a trade to Hawthorn last year.
“Yeah, it’s fair to say that’s a club decision to retain Zach,” Scott said.
Pressed on if he agreed with the call, Scott was blunt.
“No … my view was that Zach had given incredible service to the Essendon football club. He’d been through multiple strategies, multiple coaches, been made promises on multiple occasions,” Scott told The Agenda Setters.
“You know, 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. And I felt for him and I felt for his family.”
Cornes: “Did you think he was being selfish?”
Scott: “No, I didn’t think he was being selfish. I thought he had been promised things over and over again. He was at his wits end and he couldn’t invest in the team anymore. Now, he certainly does through his actions on field. But, you know, my view was that we should let him go.
“But the club’s view was that we should keep him. So again, my view is what the club’s view is. And I fronted that.”
Scott said he was very aware that the club was going through a “difficult period” but, despite the loss to lowly Richmond on Friday night, he did not think the week “felt any different to other weeks”.
“And again, I’ve been really well supported over a long period of time with a plan that we put in place,” he said.
“And as I mentioned a couple of times, all the key people were part of that plan and building that plan.
“And so it felt like business as usual to me that we’d clearly articulated the risks going into this season and the difficulties we may face, but we believe in the plan and I still believe in the plan, you know, and I’m committed to seeing it through and committed to the playing group and to all the players we recontracted as part of that plan.”
Scott said he would now speak to the players in a more informal setting at some point.
“Yeah, well, it just might not be as formal as, you know, I would have liked. But, you know, all the players are being fantastic, and we’ll catch up in due course. And there’ll be plenty of time for that,” he said.
He said he was being “pragmatic” about the decision and knew, given the task at hand, that the odds were stacked against him.
“I accepted this challenge at Essendon, because it was such a challenge. I knew it was going to be a really hard job,” Scott said.
“And that was part of the appeal. I feel a bit sadistic saying that. But that was the appeal. I was really, you know, energised about the opportunity to try and turn around a great club that had been starved of success for a long time.
“But after about Round 16 or 17, when we were top four on the ladder, and I knew we weren’t a top-four side, we had a lot of work to do. And at the end of 2023, I was really concerned on a number of fronts that we needed to make significant cultural change, and we needed to make significant list change.
“And when we embarked on that strategy, I was really, I thought, gee, these supporters are going to hate me. They’re going to hate me, because it’s going to be hard.
“And we’re vulnerable. And we may lose games. But I wanted to embark on a strategy that Essendon hasn’t embarked on this century.”
Scott he knew it was going to be hard but possibly underestimated the magnitude of that challenge.
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“I knew the odds of seeing it through were slim, because history says that. And so for me, personally, it was like, the supporters are going to hate this, it’s going to be hard,” he said.
“Why would you do this? And the answer was, because it’s the right thing to do. And I still believe it’s the right thing to do. And in time, when the supporters see these kids come together, Caddy and Kako playing with Roberts and Farrow and Sharpe and Robey, and supporting Durham and Caldwell and all these these players, you know, the supporters might look back in time and think, you know, maybe we don’t hate you as much now.”
Scott insists the decision to sack him is wrong … and said he thought everyone had been “committed” to a rebuild path.
“And I’d committed to a playing group that we’re all committed to the president, the CEO and the board, and we were all on the same page,” he said.
“But I also understand that when losses add up, pressure is applied. And, you know, I think back to the numerous times where I sat with the powers that be and just explained in detail, the vulnerabilities that we faced in the short term. And every occasion, it was, ‘oh, no, we understand that. We know that’.
“But, you know, particularly January this year, I outlined the vulnerabilities that this may happen. And the view was, ‘we know this is going to be a really difficult year. And we see it through and we see the plan through’.
“So that’s probably why last night I thought we’re seeing the plan through and I was committed to it. This strategy and this plan has been incredibly difficult. But it’s still the right thing to do. And it’s the right thing to do for the club. And that’s and my view was always that this isn’t the right thing for me. But it is the right thing for the club.”
