Essendon coach Brad Scott hinted he wasn’t too pleased with the Giants’ latest cheeky pre-game banner, which poked fun at two unfortunate narratives surrounding the Bombers.

The Giants are no stranger to a cheeky banner sledge – and they cashed in on the Bombers during their win at ENGIE Stadium on Saturday night.

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In the wake of Brisbane’s whiteboard scandal – where their judgments of Essendon players’ strengths and weaknesses were shared on social media – the Giants cheer squad published their own assessments.

Under the headline “Essendon”, there was nothing listed for “strengths”, while the “weaknesses” column just had the words “7916 days” – in reference to the Bombers’ days since winning a final.

Scott was asked about the Giants’ banner in his post-game press conference – and didn’t seem too impressed by it.

“I did catch it out of the corner of my eye,” he told reporters.

“I mean the Giants are pretty desperate for some relevance in the competition, to try and build their fanbase.

“I’m such a strong proponent of building our game in the northern states, in western Sydney and on the Gold Coast. I think that’s really important for the AFL.

“I’m reluctant to comment on other clubs. They make their decisions, we’ll make ours.”

The Bombers gave the Giants an almighty scare on Saturday night, with Adam Kingsley’s side eventually overcoming a sluggish first half.

Essendon dominated the inside 50 count (47-33) through the first three quarters to open up a handy margin from early in the second onwards. But the bright lights and allure of their second win of the season proved too much to bear, as the Giants gradually wore them down, hitting the front midway through the fourth when Harry Himmelberg kicked across his body.

Brent Daniels scored his second goal of the evening just moments later, with GWS powering to the finish line to record a gutsy 16.7 (103) to 13.11 (89) victory.

“We gave ourselves every opportunity to be in the game and to get the job done,” Scott said. “We just couldn’t quite execute. We gave up a few soft goals we were disappointed in.

Scott points to inexperience after loss | 08:15

“All in all, you have 61 entries, you control the game for the most. This game is about getting the fundamentals to a level where you can, one, compete but, two, give yourself the chance to get it done.

“Some of their good players played really well and that was probably the difference in the end.”

As for Essendon, it keeps them wedged towards the bottom of the ladder at 1-8 with the high-flying Dockers their next task.

“Our supporters, they come to the footy wanting their team to win – and so do we. We’re pushing every week to deliver that,” Scott said.

“But we’ve been very, very clear in the last three years that we want to build our team and bring in the right players. We’re impatient, like all of our fans are, but we want to make sure we’re building a solid foundation.

“If you don’t win, be really disappointed and frustrated. But it’s when you can’t see the future and can’t see the hope … you lose faith.

“Even last week, it was a disappointing performance but there were some passages of play where our players are linking up together.

Essendon give up a gift against GWS | 00:32

“We just need to continue to provide some support. But we’ve built a stable base as a list and as a club, and we have absolute faith that we can build on that base now.”

To make matters worse for Essendon, Dylan Sharp came from the field late in the quarter and failed to return with a shoulder injury.

“He thinks he’ll play next week, I don’t think that’s right. That’s just the way he is,” Scott said.

“He landed on his elbow and we’ll get it scanned. There’s probably three options: It’s OK, it’s a four-to-six week thing, or it’s a surgical thing.”

— with NCA NewsWire