Essendon coach Brad Scott is enamoured by Nate Caddy\u2019s \u201cexplicit desire\u201d for success.<\/p>\n
Caddy has won less than a third of his 34 AFL matches and expressed frustration to 3AW post-game last Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said he couldn\u2019t stand for Essendon\u2019s \u201cmediocrity\u201d after its heavy loss to reigning premier Brisbane Lions.<\/p>\n
Coach Scott, wearing a proud smile, says he loves Caddy\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it. I talk to Nate a lot about his competitiveness, his quite explicit desire to lead our forward line as a third-year player,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s explicit in his desire to lead the club into a period of success and he\u2019s hungry for that. He\u2019s impatient, and I am so excited about that because he\u2019s the ultimate competitor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to do that with Essendon, he loves the place, he loves the environment, and while he\u2019s young, he\u2019s not in the category of trying to establish his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s now switched from being excited about playing AFL footy to now, \u2018I want to drive this team forward\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen that growth in him almost week-by-week this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caddy\u2019s comments sparked debate as to whether he could pursue a greater chance of success elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Scott says neither Caddy nor any of his young teammates are showing signs of wanting to bail out of the Bombers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in my experience, being in the game as a head coach for whatever it is \u2026 I haven\u2019t seen that,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have coached, majority of the time, I\u2019ve coached young developing sides.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve recruited guys who are fully invested and they are, taking in the Nate example, starting to take responsibility of the fortunes in the club\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essendon was at the centre of \u201cwhiteboard gate\u201d this week after Brisbane\u2019s player-by-player analysis of Bombers players was leaked to the public.<\/p>\n
Scott says the external evaluation offers a chance for him to either reinforce differing views or confront realities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said post game it\u2019s an issue for Brisbane to deal with. My understanding is they do that for every club, we\u2019re just the club that had it published,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom our perspective, it probably does give me an opportunity to talk to our players about certain things.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt forces me also to follow up with certain players about what we think of them because that\u2019s more important, but don\u2019t ignore the external views.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether that\u2019s public views but certainly when that comes from an opposition club who analyse you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can choose to just ignore it and pretend it\u2019s wrong, or you can think about it and analyse it and if that\u2019s the perception, go about changing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essendon takes on GWS at Engie Stadium this Saturday.<\/p>\n