On many, if not most subjects, Brad Scott is forthright and unequivocal.
He has been blunt in describing the unprofessional standards he found at Essendon and his diagnostic pitch to the club hierarchy was that if they wanted an immediate rise to the top and believed all was hunky-dory, they should appoint someone else.
Brad Scott arrived at Essendon when the club as in turmoil.Credit: Getty Images
But straight-talking Scott has been notably reluctant to spell out what the Bombers should achieve, in concrete ladder terms, in 2024.
Scott is aligned with the club board and chief executive in managing expectations, preferring to under-promise and over-perform rather than the reverse.
This club-wide unwillingness to set the goal of winning, or even making the finals, is a reflection of an organisation whose fans have endured two decades of a cycle of inflated hopes swiftly followed by deflated reality, not to mention the brutal ASADA saga.
Under Scott, the Bombers are seeking to break that cycle of high hopes and dashed dreams, which has invariably ended with a politically pressured board sacking the coach. One cannot blame Scott for declining to set himself up to fail.
Should Hawthorn – their ’80s foe still firmly on the youth/rebuilding track – overtake the Bombers this year, that would be the final indignity.
The challenge of following Essendon is compounded by seeing the success of rivals: Collingwood winning the flag, Richmond having a four-year dynasty and, most troubling, seeing Carlton’s potential contention after a similar exile.
Should Hawthorn – their ’80s foe still firmly on the youth/rebuilding track – overtake the Bombers this year, that would be the final indignity.
The Essendon mystery: Why Bombers’ 2024 prospects are so hard to read
3
0
15.03.2024
On many, if not most subjects, Brad Scott is forthright and unequivocal.
He has been blunt in describing the unprofessional standards he found at Essendon and his diagnostic pitch to the club hierarchy was that if they wanted an immediate rise to the top and believed all was hunky-dory, they should appoint someone else.
Brad Scott arrived at Essendon when the club as in turmoil.Credit: Getty Images
But........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
