Updated ,first published
Essendon will unleash No.10 draft pick Jacob Farrow against North Melbourne on Saturday night, as besieged coach Brad Scott ruled out a “knee-jerk” reaction at the selection table and insisted he was optimistic about the team’s future.
A philosophical Scott said the way the Bombers played against the Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium “would look very different to what we produced in the first two weeks”.
Scott also dismissed concerns about his coaching future following crushing losses to Hawthorn and Port Adelaide.
“I’ve been here before. And I know the way out,” he said.
“It’s not about me. I’m trying to preach a culture of investing in the team at all costs – ‘don’t be selfish’.
“So, it’s not about me. Like what will be, will be. I mean, when you coach, when you’re a head coach, it ends at some point. It’s just a matter of how and when.
“Like, we’re going to die at some point, too. But you don’t spend your whole time thinking about it.”
Farrow will be the fourth player to debut in the first three weeks of the Bombers’ season, after Dyson Sharp, Max Kondogiannis and Hussien El Achkar.
Farrow, a half-back from Western Australia and an elite kick, had 31 touches in the VFL in a heavy defeat to Geelong last weekend. He replaces defender Mason Redman, who will miss six to eight weeks after tearing the meniscus in his knee against Port.
El Achkar and Kodogiannis were dropped for the must-win North Melbourne clash, along with Jayden Nguyen. Experienced forward Jade Gresham, Saad El-Hawli and Archer Day-Wicks have all returned to the side.
Sharp, who rolled his ankle and was frustrated at being unable to play out the Port game, has been named on a half-forward flank.
Speaking on Thursday, Scott said he didn’t believe in making big statements at selection.
He said the Bombers had worked on areas this week that they had failed to execute in the opening rounds.
“There’s nothing new this week in what we’ve coached, but I think we’ll look different.
“We’ll make change because Redman will probably be six to eight weeks out with a knee. We’ve got probably some other changes, but I’ve never been a big believer in making statements at selection.
“You know, the simple philosophy of, ‘you challenge players to respond, and they do or they don’t’. So you don’t make, or I don’t anyway, make knee-jerk reactions.
“But players know they’ve got to give the effort that’s required. So we are pretty keen to give those players the opportunity to respond.”
Scott said he understood it had been tough run for Bombers fans, having lost 15 games straight and not celebrating a win since May last year.
“Your sort of rank-and-file fan just turns up to the footy each week hoping their team’s going to win. They don’t analyse it. So, that’s a challenge,” he said.
“Being an Essendon fan the last 25 years has been unbelievably difficult. So, all I can do is assure everyone that I’m extremely optimistic about what we’re doing.
“We made really hard, short-term decisions for the medium-to long-term. Let’s see it through.”
Scott said it was normal for clubs to have regular player-only meetings, as the Bombers group did earlier this week. He said he did not get feedback.
“I’ve challenged our leaders to become more students of the game and not sit back and just be directed. I need them to think about the game,” he said.
“We have a process where players will always ask questions. They will think for the whole group about the way that we play, and we have a process for that. We do that on a regular basis.
“When you probably turn over your list by 39 players in three years, it’s going to look a little bit disjointed.”
Scott also responded to a question about being tough on his players in a post-match press conference after their loss to Port Adelaide, particularly his reference to Nate Caddy missing an easy goal from point-blank range.
“In terms of Nate Caddy and selfishness, I spoke to Nate at half-time. I spoke to Nate post game. I spoke to the players post game, and then did a press conference. So they are crystal clear as to what I’m talking about,” Scott said.
“But for everyone else, and I’m not always going to do this, but for everyone else, if you make a mistake, and you get demoralised by it, and more importantly, if the rest of the team get demoralised by it, you’re being selfish, because you’re thinking about yourself and not the team.”
Scott said the playing group voted for Caddy as their player of the week.
“Not because of his four goals in the second half, but because of his response to what he said in his own words, was an embarrassing moment,” Scott said.
“I was harder on the team in terms of their reaction to that miss in the second half. But Cads, he has grown before our eyes in one week. So where he is right now compared to where he was six months ago, is chalk and cheese.
“That’s the reason why players like Caddy, I could reel off a whole lot of others, why I’m so optimistic about this group because they are made of the right stuff.”
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