Essendon coach Brad Scott cut a frustrated figure after his side’s Anzac Day capitulation, torn between the party line and his true assessment of the loss.

The Bombers conceded 15 goals in the second half including nine in a powerless final quarter.

Collingwood champion Scott Pendlebury was at the centre of Essendon’s headaches in a career-best performance at age 38.

Scott felt the Bombers were overawed by the occasion, saying they were at times crumbling to pressure that wasn’t there.

“We were in it to half time but we weren’t playing well either, so there was a real sense that the game was going to break open in the second half,” he said.

“We just didn’t handle the occasion well at all, even though our pressure and everything was OK early.

“It’s incredibly frustrating because we came for a really important day, a big occasion and opportunity to play in games like that where outside of finals you don’t get a bigger game, bigger crowds, bigger stage, which creates big moments.

“Repeatedly we weren’t able to handle those moments, so we weren’t able to handle the occasion, we weren’t about to handle Collingwood’s pressure.

“Even worse, we weren’t able to stand up under perceived pressure which wasn’t even there.”

The Bombers were a stark contrast to the Magpies in experience but Scott – albeit tentatively – didn’t want to attribute that to the cause of defeat.

“It’s a hard one for me in a press conference, you feel like saying, ‘Well do you want what I really think, or what I think the party line should be?’” Scott said.

“There are facts that are really obvious, Scott Pendlebury alone has played more games than three-quarters of our team combined.

“But I was looking forward to the occasion to see inexperienced players under pressure.

“It’s not at the feet of our inexperienced players because the inability to absorb the pressure and stand up, show some composure was right across the board.”

Scott was willing to attribute one aspect of the loss — and the performances of Pendlebury and Nick Daicos — to the centre bounce.

He said the Bombers were “absolutely obliterated out of centre bounce”.

“I think I would put it down first of all to that they’re very good players,” he said.

“If you look at clearance, it’s a pretty even clearance day, but we just got absolutely obliterated out of centre bounce.

“The last quarter margin is almost entirely attributed to centre bounce territory and you lose contest forward.

“The times we did get it forward we were able to score, really after halftime, so centre bounce was a massive problem for us.

“But then, to answer your question about Pendlebury and Daicos, yep, what often happens is plan A wasn’t working, we had to change that, plan B wasn’t working, we had to change that.

“The dominoes started to fall and other players fell out.”

The Bombers face no reprieve after the difficult loss, welcoming reigning premier Brisbane Lions to Marvel Stadium next Saturday.

Originally published as AFL 2026: Essendon coach Brad Scott lamented his side’s handling of the Anzac Day occasion