Scott conceded it was apparent that there was a lack of desire to defend from some of his players at stages of the lopsided contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s part of it because it\u2019d be ridiculous for me to say that\u2019s not the case,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not hard-nosed enough in defence, full stop, and that\u2019s just not defenders \u2014 that\u2019s all over the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a coach who very rarely questions lack of effort, a lack of fight because you know these guys well enough that they\u2019ll always give that, but there\u2019s no doubt we\u2019re demoralised, and that can appear to look like lack of effort, a lack of fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cNate Caddy is a terrific young man, and he\u2019s a great footballer, but you miss a goal from three metres out directly in front (and) your team\u2019s demoralised.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my job as coach to keep them up and we\u2019re working extremely hard at our club, we\u2019ve done a hell of a lot of work.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably on the surface, the way results have unfolded the first two weeks of the season \u2026 it appears we\u2019ve taken at least a step back with the view to go forward, and we want to build a club and a culture that is based on team-first, and we can\u2019t have selfishness from players who think about themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ve done a lot of work to make sure we don\u2019t have that. But when things are really hard and you get demoralised, human nature is to think about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cOur pressure was non-existent. We butchered the ball when we had it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got an enormous amount of work to do on our defence full stop. But when you\u2019re turning the ball over in horrible parts of the ground \u2026 no one\u2019s set up to defend that.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Taking last season\u2019s results into account, the loss to Port extended Essendon\u2019s losing streak to 15 games, which Scott conceded could be affecting morale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe learned our lessons from last year, I\u2019ve never seen a year like last year in terms of (injury),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying we wipe that, but I think it\u2019s a fair question, because does it start to build and weigh on players?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019d be human if it didn\u2019t, and it probably weighs on everyone. But again, you develop a mental toolkit to deal with that, and those that have been in the game long enough and stay in the game, have got it and use it.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, not enough of our group have it, and they certainly have mastered it.\u201d<\/p>\n
To rub salt in the wounds, Mason Redman (knee) and Dyson Sharp (ankle) didn\u2019t see out the game and will be sent for scans.<\/p>\n