A member of the public told Merrett about Scott’s sacking. Here’s what the ex-skipper said about their disaster season

Essendon star Zach Merrett says he would be “very disappointed” if the Bombers suddenly improved simply because coach Brad Scott had been sacked, declaring players must take ownership for the club’s disastrous season.

Speaking publicly for the first time since Scott’s departure, Merrett said he learnt of Scott’s departure from a member of the public at a cafe.

He admitted the week would put added scrutiny on the playing group ahead of Sunday’s clash with West Coast, but said it would reflect poorly on the players if the coach’s exit alone sparked a dramatic turnaround.

“I’d be disappointed if players now felt inspired to be proud of the way they play,” Merrett said on Tuesday night.

“I think every player that I’ve talked to, watched or observed, has an intent and a passion to play well every game.

“But no doubt this week there’s going to be more spotlight and attention on how the players respond after such a big thing happening within the club.”

Pressed further on whether it would be alarming if Essendon suddenly lifted after Scott’s departure, Merrett doubled down.

“Yeah, I think that’d be very disappointing if anyone thought that was the easy way out,” he said.

“Brad shouldered, I think, more load than anyone for the club these past four years.

“As players, certainly there’s a lot of accountability and ownership around us and us needing to perform and keep improving and working hard to justify our roles at the footy club as well.”

Merrett, who was speaking while promoting beer company Sapporo at Chapel Street eatery Mr Miyagi, said he still hadn’t fully processed the decision after developing a close relationship with the outgoing coach.

The 30-year-old also addressed speculation linking club great James Hird to the vacant coaching role, describing the former Bombers coach as a trusted confidant.

“I can only go off our relationship. It’s very strong,” Merrett said.

“He’s been a great mentor of mine and someone I can always confide in.

“So from that perspective, I really get on well with him. I think he’s got a great viewpoint of the game.

“In terms of coaching, I think it’s just such a good one for headlines. Not sure if it’ll eventuate or not.”

Essendon president Andrew Welsh said it was not just the mounting losses but the way in which the Bombers were surrendering games that ultimately cost Scott his job.

Just six weeks after telling The Age that Scott would be the club’s “next premiership coach”, Welsh said the club lost faith in their coach because of a clear lack of progress in the playing group.

“We were disappointed in our performance in a lot of games and our ability to stem the flow throughout games at different times, and then the impacts that that can create for a young side was one of the areas that we had been assessing,” Welsh said of the board’s change of heart.

Welsh and club chief executive Tim Roberts fronted the media at the club’s Tullamarine headquarters on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the board’s reasoning.

Welsh said the board started discussions across the weekend, following the club’s disappointing Dreamtime loss to Richmond and a horror stretch that had yielded one win from the past 24 games.

He said the board met on Monday and made the decision to part ways with Scott. He spoke to the coach over the phone that night.

“When we looked at the overall picture, we agreed that a fresh voice was needed to take this club forward, and that Brad would not be our senior coach in 2027,” Welsh said.

“Once that decision was made, we moved to let Brad know and work through the next steps with him,” he said.

Essendon face a payout of up to $1.3 million on Scott’s contract, which was due to expire at the end of 2027. That amount would have to be absorbed into the Bombers’ soft cap.

Welsh also defended the timing of the decision, considering the news broke the morning after the football world began mourning Neale Daniher’s death.

“When the decision was made with the board, it was the same time that the news was breaking with Neale,” Welsh explained.

The president said as a result he and Scott agreed to postpone the announcement until Tuesday, but they lost control of the messaging when news broke early Tuesday morning.

“That made us get on the front foot, get into the club, talk to the players, talk to our staff, talk to our members, and organise this today.”

Welsh met with Scott in person on Tuesday morning and said the former coach was clearly disappointed, but had reiterated that every decision he had made was “to give the Essendon football the best chance of being successful again”.

Club captain Andrew McGrath was in hospital on Tuesday morning recovering from surgery on a broken jaw when he was told of the news.

“I got a phone call this morning in the hospital, unfortunately, and then sort of came straight here and met with the boys,” McGrath said, nursing his swollen jaw, at “the Hangar”.

“It’s obviously a really sad time for the playing group. We’ve all got a really close connection with Brad.

“We love Brad, and we understand that we live in a really brutal industry at times, and our support’s with him at the moment, his family, and yeah, the initial emotion is disappointment and sadness around the relationship that you have with him and the trust that you build as a captain and a coach.”

Scott did not appear at Tuesday’s press conference. Scott was contacted for comment.

McGrath said he intended to speak to Scott on Tuesday night.

He said the playing group felt a lot of guilt over the club’s axing of their coach as they had failed to hold up “our end of the bargain”.

McGrath would not comment on the prospect of Hird returning to Essendon, or what sort of coach was needed to take them forward.

Welsh was asked about three potential coaching appointments moving forward – club great Hird, Swans premiership coach John Longmire and interim coach Dean Solomon.

“I’m not ruling anyone in or anyone out. I am sure there will be a lot of people interested in this role,” he said.

“Dean has an opportunity standing here now as the interim coach. He’s got a very close connection with all the players, but again, that process hasn’t been defined, and we’re not ruling anyone in or anyone out.”

Welsh backed the club’s stance in refusing to trade Merrett at the end of last year, denying it had unsettled the playing group.

He praised Merrett’s form and input this year, and expected he would remain an Essendon player.

“Zach’s contracted until the end of next year, so I don’t see any other reason why he won’t be here next year,” he said.

The president also denied that spirited comments from young star Nate Caddy recently that he was sick of mediocrity and sick of losing had spooked the club or pointed to a rift between Scott and the playing group.

“I was really energised by Nate’s comments, because that’s not just Nate, that’s reflective of a lot of the players within our sheds,” he said.

“You can’t accept losing and feeling like it’s okay, and that’s when I spoke around the resilience of our young playing group, because that is their attitude.”

Welsh said there was no approach from the playing group nor one particular game that changed the board’s mind over the past six weeks.

“It’s no one individual game,” he said. “I suppose it’s the losses in the way that we’ve been losing, and probably the lack of progress we’ve been able to achieve from a number of our players with within the group.

“So it wasn’t one individual performance that led us to this decision.”

Welsh and Roberts were part of the decision to extend Scott’s contract as board members under David Barham’s presidency with the coach re-signing at the start of last season.

Roberts said the club would continue to go to the draft for high-end talent, and would keep chasing uncontracted players and free agents to build their list.

“Our strategy hasn’t changed,” Roberts said.

“What’s changed is that the board met to review progress over the weekend and yesterday, and made the decision that Brad was not going to be our coach moving forward.

“Once that decision was made, we came back to when was the right time to deal with that, and with the respect of the character and integrity of Brad, we brought that decision forward.

“Brad was part of the strategy, but only one part of a much broader football strategy and club strategy.”

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