The 18 year-old stood out again for North Ballarat on the weekend but isn’t guaranteed to make his debut against Sydney in round 4.
“He’s very close and we’re all extremely excited by Ben. We’re not going to rush him, we have to do what’s best for his welfare,” Scott told Stephen Quartermaine, Wayne Carey and Luke Darcy on One HD’s football panel show One Week at a Time.
If selected, Cunnington would come face to face with close friend Gary Rohan who was picked by the Swans in the 2009 National Draft.
“Ben is very much like an Andrew Swallow or Jack Ziebell and he will be a great addition to our side when the time is right.”
The first year coach was also asked to respond to Malcolm Blight’s scathing personal attack which came during the Kangaroos’ 104 point loss to St Kilda. Scott came under fire from the North legend for refusing to berate his underperforming players after the final siren and was also criticised for not making drastic changes to his game-plan throughout the match.
“I am extremely confident with where the club is headed and when you’re supremely confident you’re almost bulletproof to criticism,” Scott said.
“We think we’re forming our own style and we’re fortunate to have a very talented young group. We have the talent; it’s the discipline and hard work that we’re trying to instill. We want to be where St Kilda is but that will take time.”
The 33 year-old praised his club’s recent recruiting efforts and has the belief that the current crop of players has the potential to bring a sustained period of success to Arden Street.
“We’ve got a unique opportunity at North now. We have a home-grown list and not one player has come from another club.”
North Melbourne plays Sydney at Etihad Stadium on Saturday and Scott has called on all supporters to help create a significant home ground advantage.
“The atmosphere we had against West Coast was great despite just over 18 thousand people turning up to the game,” Scott told kangaroos.com.au.
“We would like to think that we can get a lot more North people through the gates against the Swans in round 4 and create an extremely hostile environment for the Swans. Supporters should never underestimate the impact they can have on a game by coming and cheering on their team.”
