Essendon Coach Brad Scott Speaks Out After Being Sacked
Brad Scott, the former Essendon coach, has publicly spoken about his sacking, revealing that the club’s key decision-makers were aligned on the rebuilding plan. However, he admitted the decision to move him on in his fourth season came as a surprise. Scott also mentioned that he was prepared to trade Zach Merrett last year, despite the player’s attempts to defect to Hawthorn.
Speaking for the first time since the news of his sacking broke, Scott said, “Pressure does strange things.” He emphasized that he had clearly communicated the risks associated with the season and believed in the plan, even though it was challenging.
“We believed in the plan, and I still believe in the plan,” Scott said on Seven’s The Agenda Setters. “I was committed to seeing it through, and committed to the playing group, and committed to all the players we recontracted as part of our plan.”
Scott expressed his disagreement with the club’s decision to retain Merrett last year, despite the player’s desire to leave for Hawthorn. “My view was that we should let him go, but the club’s view was, ‘We should keep him.’ So, again, my view is what the club’s view is. And I fronted that.”
He explained that Merrett had given incredible service to the Essendon Football Club over the years, going through multiple strategies and coaches. “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 wit’s end, and he couldn’t invest in the team any more.”
Essendon’s decision to sack Scott after a 1-10 record leaked on Tuesday morning. Scott admitted he was “blindsided” by it and missed the chance to tell the playing group. The club faces a payout of up to $1.3 million on Scott’s contract, which was due to expire at the end of 2027. That amount would have to be absorbed into the Bombers’ soft cap.
Earlier on Tuesday, Merrett learned of Scott’s departure from a member of the public at a cafe. When asked about the news leaking out, Scott said, “I’ve sort of come to expect it a little bit [the leaks]. It’s been a challenge at Essendon over the journey. But the frustrating thing about this is that I spoke to Andrew [president Andrew Welsh] last night. We were going to catch up at 7.30 this morning; we were going to hold it [the news] tight. There were only eight people who knew, plus a media manager. I’d get the opportunity to speak to the players. But at 7:30 in the morning, the players already knew because everybody knew. It made it untenable to go to the club and speak to the players. That will have to come a bit later.”
Scott admitted Essendon’s list was “a couple of years away” from contending for finals. “I think [list boss] Matt Rosa is doing a terrific job. The players we’ve brought in are really high-character guys,” he said.
Merrett, who was speaking while promoting beer company Sapporo at Chapel Street eatery Mr Miyagi, said he still hadn’t fully processed the decision after developing a close relationship with the outgoing coach. The 30-year-old also addressed speculation linking club great James Hird to the vacant coaching role, describing the former Bombers coach as a trusted confidant.
“I can only go off our relationship. It’s very strong,” Merrett said. “He’s been a great mentor of mine and someone I can always confide in. So from that perspective, I really get on well with him. I think he’s got a great viewpoint of the game. In terms of coaching, I think it’s just such a good one for headlines. Not sure if it’ll eventuate or not.”
Welsh said it was not just the mounting losses but the way in which the Bombers were surrendering games that ultimately cost Scott his job. Just six weeks after telling The Age that Scott would be the club’s “next premiership coach,” Welsh said the club lost faith in their coach because of a clear lack of progress in the playing group.
“We were disappointed in our performance in a lot of games and our ability to stem the flow throughout games at different times, and then the impacts that that can create for a young side was one of the areas that we had been assessing,” Welsh said of the board’s change of heart.
Welsh and club chief executive Tim Roberts fronted the media at the club’s Tullamarine headquarters on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the board’s reasoning. Welsh said the board started discussions across the weekend, following the club’s disappointing Dreamtime loss to Richmond and a horror stretch that had yielded one win from the past 24 games. He said the board met on Monday and made the decision to part ways with Scott. He spoke to the coach over the phone that night.
“When we looked at the overall picture, we agreed that a fresh voice was needed to take this club forward, and that Brad would not be our senior coach in 2027,” Welsh said. “Once that decision was made, we moved to let Brad know and work through the next steps with him,” he said.
Welsh also defended the timing of the decision, considering the news broke the morning after the football world began mourning Neale Daniher’s death. “When the decision was made with the board, it was the same time that the news was breaking with Neale,” Welsh explained. The president said as a result he and Scott agreed to postpone the announcement until Tuesday, but they lost control of the messaging when news broke early Tuesday morning.
“That made us get on the front foot, get into the club, talk to the players, talk to our staff, talk to our members, and organise this today.”
Club captain Andrew McGrath was in hospital on Tuesday morning recovering from surgery on a broken jaw when he was told of the news. “I got a phone call this morning in the hospital, unfortunately, and then sort of came straight here and met with the boys,” McGrath said, nursing his swollen jaw, at “the Hangar.” “It’s obviously a really sad time for the playing group. We’ve all got a really close connection with Brad. We love Brad, and we understand that we live in a really brutal industry at times, and our support’s with him at the moment, his family, and yeah, the initial emotion is disappointment and sadness around the relationship that you have with him and the trust that you build as a captain and a coach.”
Scott did not appear at Tuesday’s press conference. He was contacted for comment. McGrath said he intended to speak to Scott on Tuesday night. He said the playing group felt a lot of guilt over the club’s axing of their coach as they had failed to hold up “our end of the bargain.”
Welsh was asked about three potential coaching appointments moving forward – club great Hird, Swans premiership coach John Longmire and interim coach Dean Solomon. “I’m not ruling anyone in or anyone out. I am sure there will be a lot of people interested in this role,” he said. “Dean has an opportunity standing here now as the interim coach. He’s got a very close connection with all the players, but again, that process hasn’t been defined, and we’re not ruling anyone in or anyone out.”
Welsh backed the club’s stance in refusing to trade Merrett at the end of last year, denying it had unsettled the playing group. He praised Merrett’s form and input this year, and expected he would remain an Essendon player.
“Zach’s contracted until the end of next year, so I don’t see any other reason why he won’t be here next year,” he said. The president also denied that spirited comments from young star Nate Caddy recently that he was sick of mediocrity and sick of losing had spooked the club or pointed to a rift between Scott and the playing group.
“I was really energised by Nate’s comments, because that’s not just Nate, that’s reflective of a lot of the players within our sheds. You can’t accept losing and feeling like it’s okay, and that’s when I spoke around the resilience of our young playing group, because that is their attitude. So it wasn’t one individual performance that led us to this decision.”
Welsh and Roberts were part of the decision to extend Scott’s contract as board members under David Barham’s presidency with the coach re-signing at the start of last season. Roberts said the club would continue to go to the draft for high-end talent, and would keep chasing uncontracted players and free agents to build their list.
“Our strategy hasn’t changed,” Roberts said. “What’s changed is that the board met to review progress over the weekend and yesterday, and made the decision that Brad was not going to be our coach moving forward. Once that decision was made, we came back to when was the right time to deal with that, and with the respect of the character and integrity of Brad, we brought that decision forward. Brad was part of the strategy, but only one part of a much broader football strategy and club strategy.”
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