BRAD Scott was 33 when he was appointed North Melbourne's new senior coach ahead of the 2010 season. He had been an assistant coach for three seasons after retiring from his successful, two-premiership career with Brisbane (and before that Hawthorn). He was a man in demand, with an appetite for the coaching hot seat.
The story, naturally, has evolved for his second crack at coaching as Scott prepares to enter this season in charge of Essendon, the Bombers' third senior coach in four years. But two things remained as central to his path back into the role: he was head-hunted for the job and remained drawn to the coaching position. Where others may turn their back on the pressure, Scott welcomed the opportunity.
"There was a little bit of trepidation after almost three years away – would the game have moved on? I was fortunate to still be heavily involved in game analysis at the AFL so it's probably just like riding a bike and being back in the routine," Scott told AFL.com.au last week before Thursday's match simulation hitout against Gold Coast.
"The difference this time is that I have a much better understanding of what to expect.
"You can be an assistant coach for as long as you like but until you sit in the chair as senior coach you never really understand the different demands. I go in eyes wide open this time. And I think I have a much better understanding of where to spend my time and the things to probably focus on less."
It was what Essendon promised to focus on more which clinched Scott. The Bombers removed Ben Rutten as coach at the end of last season after a disastrous campaign that saw them finish 15th and immediately underwent a process to find their new coach. They wanted experience. Some gravitas with a playing group that had lost confidence in the direction of the club was another priority.
But Scott was comfortable. After departing the Kangaroos in the middle of 2019 after a decade in charge, Scott joined the AFL in 2020. For the 2022 season he was the League's manager of football, a position that afforded him a wide view of how clubs operate and a different insight into where the game is headed. AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said he could see Scott becoming a club chief executive. But that didn't quite scratch the former Brisbane flag-winner's itch, with Essendon putting forward its case.
"I was really happy at the AFL so [with] the initial approach, while I was flattered, I was really comfortable doing what I was doing," he said.
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"Essendon certainly persisted and sold a story and, amongst many things, the real tipping point came when I could tell that the club were really keen to focus back on football and to have that focus on their core product which is members, players and footy. That's what I love doing. I love spending time with players and developing players and part of the challenge of being a senior coach is you get taken away from that at times.
"Essendon certainly assured me that I'd be able to focus on that task and spend time developing the team and developing the players.
"The focus on footy has been good so far but we've got a long way to build the football department to what we want it to be, which is a world-class football program and that's post-COVID. But also get that focus back on Essendon on footy rather than some of the peripheral things around the footy club."
Scott came into Essendon ready to make his imprint. The Bombers have bolstered their development coaching department, with three more full-time staff in that area. They have added a head of performance – ex-Kangaroos football manager Dan McPherson – and their new chief executive Craig Vozzo comes from a long and strong football background as a key member of West Coast's list and managerial team.
But Scott was also ready to listen. Upon taking on the role, he caught up with Essendon players individually for a coffee, hearing their hopes and concerns. He was on board for last year's trade period but also wanted to keep an open mind on the list, not yet sure what he'd discover and learn about what he already had in his first year in the job. He has gone through last year's Essendon performances, often with the Bombers players, and looked for what the plan was and which things can be retained in their game style.
"From the outside there can be a perception – a club is either going really well or they're in turmoil. There's very little in between. But the reality is the Essendon Football Club, particularly the football department, is in good shape," Scott said.
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"There's a lot of good people in here. If you look at the coaching group [and assistant coaches] pretty much all of them are still here. We're looking to improve it all the time, but there are a lot of good things happening.
"My first port of call is to retain all of those things before we layer in some of the things we want to improve on. Quite simply, for us, we need to improve every part of our game."
Essendon hopes the improvement comes in many forms. Clearly, defence will be a focus after the Bombers' struggles last year (they conceded the third most points of any club in 2022). But individual growth will also be a key factor in how Essendon's campaign is assessed.
They have a new captain – Zach Merrett – who is ready to put his mark on the group after Dyson Heppell's six years in the role. Merrett, as expected, has been a standout over pre-season alongside midfield ace Darcy Parish. Dylan Shiel has also been back to some of his best across summer, with that trio to spearhead their on-ball brigade. Beyond the big names, Scott is excited by his midfield depth.
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"Jye Caldwell has been really impressive, Will Setterfield has impressed everyone with everything he's done, Archie Perkins is coming through, Kyle Langford plays everywhere on the ground but has certainly spent some time as an inside midfielder for us. There are a lot of options there which I think put us in a good spot," he said.
Sam Durham and Nic Martin have taken steps over the pre-season as running, ground-taking wingmen, while Andrew McGrath has moved to half-back where his steady hand will be crucial.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is back pushing for a round one spot but has more competition in the small forward stocks, particularly with Jye Menzie showing strong progress. Jordan Ridley, too, has added some strength and shapes as a key for the Bombers in defence.
"The competition, to my eye, is going to get better in 2023 so that makes improvement difficult to judge in terms of ladder position. But what I think we can judge is the improvement at a micro level is in terms of the way we play and also the development of individual players," Scott said.
As the third-youngest list in the AFL, with the fourth-fewest average games experience, the Bombers' demographic should adjust expectations on any immediate bounce up the ladder. But as he takes on one of footy's biggest jobs, in restoring the Bombers to a powerhouse, Scott knows the direction to head.
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"A few people have said 'Are we going to play the young guys?' and the answer is 'I don't think we have any alternative'. We have a young team," Scott said.
"Essendon supporters understand that with a young team there's going to be some challenges probably with consistency of performances both from game to game but also within game.
"But I really encourage the fans to get on board and enjoy the journey and watch some of these young players develop and improve. That's what I love doing, I love working with players and trying to maximise their potential."
BRAD SCOTT ON…
Sam Durham and Nic Martin
"They’ve really impressed me. I didn't know a lot about them. I watched Sam Durham in particular because he was a Rising Star candidate and that committee that votes on the Rising Star was watching him pretty closely week to week [last year]. I knew a bit about him but he's better than what I saw last year. What he does on the training track is really impressive so he's got a lot of growth and Nic Martin is just a great story. He wasn't on an AFL list, came through the SSP and a couple of weeks later he was kicking five goals in his debut against Geelong. He's got some obvious capability but with a full pre-season under his belt we really expect him to improve this year."
Andrew McGrath moving to defence
"He's really helped me because my strong message has been that we want to maximise players' strengths. You can say that but what are the actions that actually back that up? I talked to Andy about where he plays his best footy and I went in with an open mind. It was a process of working through what his best footy looks like, what's the role that best suits that, and we've taken a different attitude. We haven’t looked at the team and said 'We've got weaknesses in this part of the ground so we'll move players into that spot'. It's been about trying to get players into the slot that suits them. For Andy to say 'I think I play my best footy across half-back' and for the rest of the playing group to see that I think has been really helpful."
Archie Perkins as a midfield point of difference
"He is. But again he kicks goals too, he's shown that early in his career as well that he can do that. He's a strong powerful forward and he's been impressive in the contest. I probably thought we've got some really, really capable midfielders but Archie's a bit different. He's obviously got great attributes but he's just that strong midfielder who complements what we've already got."
Nik Cox's best position
"I don't know, is the easy answer. He's done nice things forward, back and midfield. The flexibility a player like 'Coxy' gives you is huge. He's ruck size, he's in our best running group, he kicks left and right. He's a pretty complete player but he's young and he still needs to develop and part of the reason we're being very conservative with (Zach) Reid and Cox is they're 200cm plus, and they’ve had some stress injuries and the temptation is to roll them out as soon as they're healthy but then they break down again. We'll be really conservative so where Coxy ends up playing – I couldn't give you an honest answer at the moment."
