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Essendon could get up to six first-choice players back following bye to stem run of four losses

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a day ago

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News.com.au

Essendon could get up to six first-choice players back following bye to stem run of four losses

Essendon could get as many as six players back immediately after the bye but 'balance' will drive coach Brad Scott's decision despite the battling Bombers coping a 41-point hiding from Fremantle on Thursday night. Scott unleashed another debutant, his team's 11th amid an injury crisis, with teenage ruckman Vigo Visentini added to an outfit that has now lost four games in a row, including a 95-point mauling by Geelong. But as Scott declared young Archie Perkins was 'doubting himself' after a few questionable moments coming on as the sub for the second week in a row despite being one of the more senior players available to him, the coach stopped short of declaring he throw everyone available back in for the round 17 clash with Gold Coast. 'We might get some players back after the break,' Scott said. 'We'll definitely get (Sam) Durham back, for example, from suspension, and there's probably five or six others that will be close. 'But now we've got to balance, is it a risk to bring five or six back all at once? We'll have to assess where they're at. 'Those players will have a really strong training session this weekend. 'They won't have the same bye week that all the other players will have, so we've got two weeks really now to get them ready and then make an assessment as to whether we bring some back.' Perkins, who now has 93 games under his belt, having been taken at pick 9 in the 2020 draft, had a couple of moments that he would rather have back against the Dockers, including missing an uncontested mark in attack because he took his eyes off the ball. He managed just 10 possessions in the loss to the Dockers, following seven against Geelong and 11 against Carlton. Scott said he thought it would come for the 23-year-old. 'I think that it's always about reminding players what they're really good at. And Perkins is a strong, powerful footballer who, at his best, is breaking through tackles and competing really strong,' he said. 'Right at the moment, he's doubting himself a little bit. And so my job is to remind him of what he's really good at. 'Coach those things in terms of the technical aspect but then getting to the point where he's in the frame of mind to get out and compete because he is a competitor. 'But he's just making mistakes through hesitation at the moment. 'It'll come for him. We've just got to persist.' The Bombers had seven first-year players on the ground on Thursday night. One that impressed Scott was Visentini. 'We think there are some players that have come into our team that won't go out regardless of who comes back,' he said. 'So that, by definition, should make us stronger. 'From what I saw tonight, it won't be his (Visentini's) last game of AFL footy, that's for sure. 'I thought he rucked really well. I thought he competed really well. 'He's a 19-year-old playing his first game against a premiership player who was picked two or three in the draft. So, you know, there's some big challenges in footy but probably not too many bigger than that. 'I like his competitiveness. He's a great size, he's a terrific athlete, and he's got a huge opportunity to learn under one of the all-time great ruckman in Todd Goldstein. 'Knowing Goldie, like I do, Goldie's dual objective will be to get himself ready to perform when he needs to play, but he'll take a really-strong interest in getting Vigo up to speed as quickly as possible.'

AFL round 15 Fremantle v Essendon: Live scores, updates and SuperCoach news

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2 days ago

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News.com.au

AFL round 15 Fremantle v Essendon: Live scores, updates and SuperCoach news

A lengthy Essendon injury list that has prompted the Bombers to play 11 debutants so far in 2025, but Brad Scott is still holding out hope that his side won't fade out of the season again. The last team to field 11 first-gamers in a single season was North Melbourne in 2017 when Scott was in charge. It's still two players short of the modern day record of 13 among non-expansion teams, a number set by the now-defunct Fitzroy who played 13 debutants in 1991. While Scott couldn't rule out more first-gamers amid the injury crisis, he also hoped for the return of plenty of injured players sooner rather than later, conscious there are fears of a serious fade-out from the Bombers. In 2024 Essendon lost nine of the final 12 games, having won eight of the first 11, to drop out of finals contention in alarming fashion. In 2023, the Bombers lost five of the last seven games, including the final two matches of the season by a combined 196 points. It's a trend Scott is keen to avoid, and hopeful the competitiveness of his young players, outside last week's 92-point loss to Geelong, was evidence that shouldn't happen again. 'This is a bit of the thing with trends, there are things you can't deny. You can't turn around and say we haven't had poor second halves of the year in the past two years,' he said. 'But the thing you have to dig down on is the reason. 'At the moment we've also got to be careful with that because we hopefully will get some personnel, not all of our personnel, back in the back half of the year, that that's the panacea.' But Scott said young players being thrown into the big time earlier could provide capacity for quicker than expected improvement. 'You've just got to keep coaching,' he said. 'While we would have loved to have won our last three games, you have a more captive playing group when you get taught a lesson … they want answers, they want to improve, we can give them clear lessons on that. 'Sometimes young players can, not consciously, but subconsciously drift through the first couple of years of their career because they're seen as developing players. 'Our developing players are playing key roles in our senior team against stars of the competition. They haven't shown any signs of being overawed by that. 'We'll learn the lessons and try and turn it around.'

AFL medical panel set to determine future of Essendon's Nik Cox

News.com.au

4 days ago

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News.com.au

AFL medical panel set to determine future of Essendon's Nik Cox

Essendon is awaiting a written report from the AFL's concussion panel before making a call on the future of Nik Cox as coach Brad Scott awaits a potential return of troops to avoid another fade-out in the second half of the season that he conceded had become a 'trend'. Cox, 22, could be forced into AFL retirement after just 53 games as he continues to battle concussion issues, with Scott confirming Cox is not slated for a playing return 'in the short term'. The former top-10 draft pick hasn't played in the AFL this season and recently went before the league's concussion panel, which can determine whether he should play on. Collingwood premiership winner Nathan Murphy was the most recent player to be medically retired last year by the panel, which initially cleared him. Scott said the Bombers were waiting on the full findings before making a call on Cox. 'He's gone before the concussion panel. They have given some preliminary findings, but we are waiting on a written report,' he said. 'We don't have direct recommendations yet as to what that looks like. It's fair to say he won't be playing in the short term.' Cox is on a lengthy Essendon injury list that has prompted the Bombers to play 11 debutants so far in 2025. The last team to field 11 first-gamers in a single season was North Melbourne in 2017 when Scott was in charge. It's still two players short of the modern day record of 13 among non-expansion teams, a number set by the now-defunct Fitzroy who played 13 debutants in 1991. While Scott couldn't rule out more first-gamers amid the injury crisis, he also hoped for the return of plenty of injured players sooner rather than later, conscious there are fears of a serious fade-out from the Bombers. In 2024 Essendon lost nine of the final 12 games, having won eight of the first 11, to drop out of finals contention in alarming fashion. In 2023, the Bombers lost five of the last seven games, including the final two matches of the season by a combined 196 points. It's a trend Scott is keen to avoid, and hopeful the competitiveness of his young players, outside last week's 92-point loss to Geelong, was evidence that shouldn't happen again. 'This is a bit of the thing with trends, there are things you can't deny. You can't turn around and say we haven't had poor second halves of the year in the past two years,' he said. 'But the thing you have to dig down on is the reason. 'At the moment we've also got to be careful with that because we hopefully will get some personnel, not all of our personnel, back in the back half of the year, that that's the panacea.' But Scott said young players being thrown into the big time earlier could provide capacity for quicker than expected improvement. 'You've just got to keep coaching,' he said. 'While we would have loved to have won our last three games, you have a more captive playing group when you get taught a lesson … they want answers, they want to improve, we can give them clear lessons on that. 'Sometimes young players can, not consciously, but subconsciously drift through the first couple of years of their career because they're seen as developing players. 'Our developing players are playing key roles in our senior team against stars of the competition. They haven't shown any signs of being overawed by that. 'We'll learn the lessons and try and turn it around.'