\n Media Conference\n <\/p>\n
\n All the takeaways from Brad Scott’s post match presser.\n <\/p>\n
Senior Coach Brad Scott says Essendon received a clear reminder of the work still required to match it with the competition\u2019s best following Friday night\u2019s loss to Hawthorn.<\/p>\n
While the Bombers showed positive signs early, Scott said the Hawks\u2019 ability to intercept and transition the ball proved decisive as the contest wore on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really got beaten by what we were concerned about coming into the game,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe inside 50 differential was significant, but they were able to intercept the ball a lot more than we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott on\u2026 Hawthorn\u2019s transition<\/p>\n
Scott said Hawthorn\u2019s ability to rebound from defence made it difficult for Essendon to sustain pressure in the front half.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very concerned about their ability to bounce us out of our forward half,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did it through intercept marks and cleaning up ground balls.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur inability to stop them transitioning out of our front half was nowhere near the level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott said the speed of Hawthorn\u2019s counterattack made it difficult for the Bombers to maintain momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the ball\u2019s bouncing out of your forward 50 and one in every two times it goes inside your forward 50 it goes back the other end, it\u2019s very hard to build pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott on\u2026 the Bombers\u2019 early intent<\/p>\n
Despite the result, Scott was pleased with the Bombers\u2019 willingness to take the game on early in the contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought our ability to take the game on and put Hawthorn under some pressure early in the game in terms of scoring pressure was okay,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we just couldn\u2019t hold up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott said building cohesion within the group remains an important part of the club\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
Using Hawthorn forward Jack Gunston as an example, Scott highlighted the value of continuity within a settled side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see Jack Gunston move and his teammates know what he\u2019s going to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the challenges last year is we had forwards who haven\u2019t played with midfielders before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had about 20 debutants in the time Hawthorn have had one.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo those connection pieces \u2013 understanding what your teammate\u2019s going to do \u2013 unfortunately takes time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott on\u2026 the young Bombers<\/p>\n
Scott said there were encouraging signs from Essendon\u2019s younger players despite the result.<\/p>\n
\u201cDyson Sharp just showed us that he\u2019s up to the level,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s competitive, he\u2019s strong and he makes good decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott also pointed to promising signs from debutant Max Kondogiannis in his first senior outing.<\/p>\n
\u201cKondogiannis as well \u2013 he looks young, but that\u2019s because he\u2019s 18.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott on… the road ahead<\/p>\n
While disappointed with the result, Scott said the Bombers remain focused on the work required to close the gap on the competition\u2019s best sides.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re under no illusions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a gulf between where we are right now and where the best teams are.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019ve got capability and we\u2019ve just got to execute better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott said the group would take the lessons from the loss and continue building as the season progresses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a good lesson tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Media Conference All the takeaways from Brad Scott’s post match presser. Senior Coach Brad Scott says Essendon received…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85,83],"class_list":["post-540794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}