Leaked Whiteboard Exposes Essendon Players’ Strengths and Weaknesses
A whiteboard, which was reportedly used by the Brisbane Lions during their training sessions, has been leaked to the public, revealing detailed insights into the strengths and weaknesses of Essendon players. The document includes descriptions that have sparked significant discussion within the football community.
The whiteboard lists several Essendon players with specific labels, such as Zach Merrett and Kyle Langford being described as “selfish.” Ben McKay is noted as having “low confidence,” while Sam Durham is labeled a “hot head.” Interestingly, the whiteboard also mentions the girlfriend of one of the Essendon players as his “strength.” However, Wide World of Sports has chosen not to identify the player involved.
Photos of the whiteboard were uploaded to an Essendon Supporters Group private Facebook page on Friday. The person who uploaded the images mentioned that their child was at the Brighton Arena training facility for AusKick when they (the parent) came across the whiteboard. The Lions’ venue is regularly used by community members throughout the week.
Brisbane personnel were not present at the venue at the time because the club was in Victoria to face the Bombers. The post has since been deleted, but the Lions have confirmed the images are real. The whiteboard was obviously never meant to reach the public.
According to 3AW’s Jacqui Reed, it is believed that a photo was taken through a window, and the incident is being described as a “huge breach.”
The Herald Sun reported that the scathing descriptions of each player were written by Brisbane players as part of their opposition analysis. The whiteboard lists midfielder Elijah Tsatas as “fumbly,” defender Saad El-Hawli’s “defensive accountability” was called out, and Xavier Duursma’s “decision making” was questioned.
As for strengths, first-year defender Jacob Farrow is described as “composed” and has good kicking, Lachie Blakiston can “jump,” and Merrett has “presence,” as well as being a good kick with license to use it.
The two teams played on Saturday afternoon, with Brisbane winning comfortably. Lions forward Cam Rayner dismissed the criticism of the Essendon players as anything serious, stating that every club would do something similar internally.
“I’m pretty sure all 18 teams have a whiteboard on their opposition. I don’t think it’s anything out of the ordinary,” Rayner told 3AW.
“It’s obviously a bit disappointing and the person that did it obviously had his son there doing AusKick, which is disappointing for him.
“It is what it is. It’s footy. Every club does it. It’s unfortunate it came out.”
Essendon forward Nate Caddy meanwhile denied knowledge of the whiteboard leak when asked post-game.
Former Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews believes the club would be “mortified” by this leak.
“It’s not unusual. It’s just embarrassing that it has seen the light of day,” Matthews told 3AW.
“You would be mortified. This is something we’re talking about that’s not meant for public consumption.”
Former Carlton captain Sam Docherty added: “This would not be a laughing matter internally (at Brisbane).”
