Questions have been raised about Essendon’s development under Brad Scott despite the club spending a surplus of cash in various areas.
A sense of deja vu is palpable at the Bombers after losing six of their last eight games, mirroring last year’s late-season decline in Scott’s first year as coach. This slump has currently placed the club outside the top eight.
If this trend continues, Essendon’s 2021 campaign under Ben Rutten would be the last time the team made the finals. According to a column by the Herald Sun’s Sam Landsberger, the Bombers were between $2-3 million under the salary cap in Rutten’s final season as coach in 2022, allowing them to prepay contracts and create room for future aggressive moves.
Essendon used this financial flexibility to acquire Ben McKay, Jade Gresham, Todd Goldstein, and Xavier Duursma, although their attempt to sign re-signed Sun Ben Ainsworth was unsuccessful.
As a result, the Bombers have gained significantly more experience under Scott.
In 2022, Essendon had the second-youngest list in the AFL with an average age of 24.6 and an average of 74.4 games played. Now, they have the sixth-oldest list with an average age of 26.1 and 110.7 games played.
Additionally, only three Bombers have debuted under Scott: Alwyn Davey, Elijah Tsatas (neither currently in the AFL team), and Nate Caddy. This makes Essendon the club with the fewest debutants in the AFL since 2023, indicating a focus on winning now.
The Bombers have also bolstered their football department, increasing their development coaches from 2.5 under Rutten in 2022 to 5.5 under Scott in 2023.
They’ve also brought in highly-regarded psychologist Dr. Ben Robbins as a mental skills coach and David Rath to help innovate training sessions.
“They’re spending far more money on players and spending far more money off the field,” Landsberger explained on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle. “But the results are similar. In 2021, Rutten took this team to finals with a percentage of about 110 – the club’s best percentage since 2003.
“Right now, it has the fourth-worst percentage in the AFL… it’s a really strange position to be in given we don’t think they’re going to play finals.”
To emphasize a feeling of “the same olds,” Landsberger showed footage from 2014 when then-Essendon coach Mark Thompson challenged the club’s development.
“When, when, when are you going to change?” a fired-up Thompson said at a press conference after a loss to Richmond. “When is it going to happen where you take yourself from an average team to a team that consistently plays finals and you can handle the stage and you look the same every week? When, when, when?
“Because they do it in patches; it’s not as if they can’t play.”
“Because they do it in patches; it’s not as if they can’t play.
“What makes the team fluctuate? That’s what I’m trying to unlock.”
Landsberger responded: “Tell me that could not have been Brad Scott after the loss against St Kilda; it’s extraordinary to listen to.”
Fellow Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark believes Scott will use the next four rounds to decide which players will – and won’t – take the club forward to contend for its 17th flag. “I think Brad Scott is going to take a massive Bunsen burner and spotlight to this list over the next four weeks. He’ll be gaining data and looking at which players can take Essendon to a top-four berth and premiership,” he said.
“He is brutal, Brad Scott, and a straight shooter. I think these next four weeks will make or break careers at the Essendon Football Club.
“But there is a sense of familiarity and déjà vu about all this.”
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