Both teams were trying to tank on Saturday night. I refuse to believe footballers can play as bad as that unless it’s on purpose.
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Stop making excuses for Brad’s terrible game plan Nino.
Yea but difference is that no one expected good things from Tigers this season
I’m not the game on Saturday night shouldnt be used as the rule.
What we saw againt Brisbane and GC for 3 qrts is how we should play not sure what happend on Saturday.
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We’re the leading backwards kicking team in the comp.
We value time in possession, and we’re not very good at it.
Our young forwards don’t stand a chance.
I worry about Caddy’s development in the next 2 seasons with our woeful forward entries !
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This style of play of going backwards and woeful forward entries hasnt been happneing just under Brad its been happening for years under multiple coaches.
The younger players seem to be fine
Rutten had a slow kicking game out of the D50 in early '22 as well.
That has no relevance to Brad though.
He’s the coach now, and needs to formulate a game plan that will enable the side to win games down the track, even if it results in heavier defeats now.
Again, you are making excuses for him.
What do you think training sessions are for? Kicking the footy and running around like headless chooks? Its definitely a directive and we have a game plan set out to players. Follow the game plan or you’ll get dropped. It’s on Scott.
Iam going to have to give up the family and work commitments so I can muster a comeback
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Nothing??? How about a 0-6 start to 2026 season??? Still nothing there as well ???
The coach always has the support of the board … well … that is until … they don’t.
Ah yes, another “rebuild” from the essendon football club, how many of these they had now over the past 20 years, because this is not the first one. All these other “rebuilds” seem to of done the trick, so lets do another one!!
Two more years of Brad to go!
We are coached by an insecure loser who is buying time with lots of excuses and laughing all the way to the bank in the process.
While no sane person could expect amazing performances from us with so many injuries, after 3 years of Bradford Scott at the helm, we still don’t value contest, pressure and ball movement.
Our ball movement is truly the worst in the league. We play keepings off and we’re not good at it. We switch play purely to retain possession rather than to trying to open up play and find an efficient avenue forward. It’s a ■■■■■■ bruise-free style of footy that falls apart as soon as a little heat is applied. It’s a style of play that makes us incredibly easy to defend against. It’s a style that will never hold up in finals and doesn’t even hold up against a very poor team sitting in 17th.
With or without injuries, and with everyone entitled to their opinion on the quality of our list, Brad’s coaching has done nothing to elevate this playing group. He was never the right man for the job. He is a proven failure, just like Ross Lyon. And neither of them should ever have been considered when we decided to replace Rutten.
But with that mistake already made, extending Brad’s contract so needlessly and prematurely is unforgiveable. That extra year, with soft cap implications, is an anchor that will see us sitting in misery for a long time to come. And he won’t be sacked. All these losers running the show have aligned themselves with him and will act out of self-interest by seeing this failure through to the bitter end.
We managed to go from Knights to Saga to Woosha/Truck and now this shitshow.
For years, people on this website sooked about the “boys club” and lamented that we had too many Essendon people at the club. Well this is what the alternative looks like. A bunch of people who couldn’t give a stuff about the place. And a staff largely made up of any former North Melbourne employee and reject that Brad could get his hands on. We’ve really gone out and hired the best and brightest minds in the business.
It’s hard to know whether Brad is an AFL plant or simply a bloke who has no idea what he’s doing. We also have a president who couldn’t be any less impressive. We all remember when Barham chased Clarko and embarrassed himself and the footy club in the process, whilst also showing zero class towards the vanquished Ben Rutten. He and the board then hired and fired Xavier Campbell’s replacement within 24 hours and almost cost the club millions. Thankfully our 1-day CEO Andrew Thorburn was merciful and walked away relatively quietly. How over 5000 members voted to re-elect Barham in the club’s most recent board election has me stuffed. Oh, but at least we have all this glorious stability.
Which brings us back to Brad’s extension. The incompetent bunch of losers that sit on our board, along with Craig Vozzo saw how ■■■■ Brad was going after 2 years and decided to extend him through to a 5th year. Not only was no other club or organisation interested in Brad’s services, but from what I’ve heard, the AFL were delighted that we took this unlikeable turd off their hands.
Anyone thinking we’re killing it with list management isn’t paying attention either. A lowball offer is the main reason Draper is considering a move. And while we’ve upped our offer, the damage may already be done. If we lose Drapes for band 2 compensation, it will be a massive failure. Anyone thinking otherwise is a fool.
With pretty much all of our key defenders injured, we went and picked up a ruckman in the MSD to play at fullback. Pure genius. And the one tallish defender that has stood up through it all (Lav) continues to get ■■■■ on by our so-called supporters even though he’s frequently forced to punch above his weight.
We also prematurely extended the contracts of Tom Edwards, Archer Day-Wicks and star wingman Harry Jones, despite not having a single ruckman contracted beyond 2025. It’s hard to understand why so many people at this club excel at nothing other than frequent poor decision making.
With a dejected and crippled playing group, some of which are considering a fresh start, only the most optimistic or delusional fan could think players like Harley Reid and Zac Butters would want to join us. And then there’s Darren Burgess. Why would this guy walk away form a cushy job and relocate his family to come to Essendon where nothing other than failure thrives?
We have the most uninspiring and unpleasant coach in the land, rubbish off field leadership and a fitness/medical team that are getting belted from multiple angles. We’ll go into next year with at least half a dozen players who won’t be ready for round one. Good luck attracting anyone to this dysfunctional shithole that we proudly call Essington.
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alistair clarkson and ross lyon say hi
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I don’t agree with everything you said @MaxFactor - but a great read regardless.
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I think you’ll find that clubs will be circling. Langford at Brisbane or Parish at Collingwood would be infinitely better players than they are at Essendon. I could easily see Draper, Parish, Langford, Perkins and one of Tsatas or Hobbs departing. I hope Merrett stays because I like watching him play, but I wouldn’t hold it against him if he left.
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I’m going devil’s advocate here. But I actually would be annoyed at Merrett if he left. He said just a few weeks ago that he knew where the list was at when he recommitted. He also got a bonus over the off-season, as did Langford. Being captain comes with a lot of perks and not everyone is going to be lucky enough to captain a premiership. Does he deserve better? For sure but so do we and we don’t get richly rewarded for our loyalty
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He doesn’t deserve better. He’s getting paid handsomely to play a game. Maybe he should lead better.
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He leads well but he doesn’t deserve better and leave. He’s an Essendon person and I’d hope if his character is as high as I think it is he will take responsibility and do his bit to lead the Club through this period.
Merret will be on AFL 360 tonight.