![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ddb439a35602544b713c38672523d9b13febc6cda49bcf2dcf93af2f2438157f.png\")
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has declared his former team \u201cthe worst side in the competition\u201d as young gun Archie Roberts made an impassioned show of support for embattled coach Brad Scott, whose fight to stay in the job has been hit hard by another injury crisis.<\/p>\n Roberts also issued a rally cry to the Bombers faithful after the club\u2019s bid for a pressure-relieving victory against Richmond was cruelled by a spate of injuries, leaving Scott\u2019s men languishing at the bottom of the ladder with a hefty injury toll ahead of games against other bottom-four teams.<\/p>\n The crowded casualty ward at The Hangar, reminiscent of their awful run with injury in the second half of last year, adds a layer of complexity for the Bombers hierarchy in assessing Scott\u2019s performance as coach.<\/p>\n As stony-faced Essendon fans filed out of the ground on Friday night after the Dons\u2019 23rd defeat from their past 24 games, Bombers president Andrew Welsh and chief executive Tim Roberts were locked in conversation in the dressing rooms deep in the bowels of the MCG. Such chats are common regardless of the result.<\/p>\n CEO Roberts was last week unequivocal in his support for Scott, but the numbers paint a bleak picture for fourth-year coach, who has tasted victory once in 365 days since the Dreamtime game on this weekend last year and won 29 out of his 80 games in charge at Essendon.<\/p>\n Already with 12 on their injury list before the round, the Bombers\u2019 plight worsened with injuries to skipper Andrew McGrath, inspirational midfielder Sam Durham, promising forward Archer May, midfielder Jye Caldwell and small forward Matt Guelfi. Important defender Jordan Ridley is a chance to return this week.<\/p>\n They face West Coast and Carlton, 16th and 15th respectively, in the next fortnight \u2013 games that appeared highly winnable before the savage injury twist \u2013 but will now likely start outsiders.<\/p>\n Lloyd said the Bombers lacked confidence in their use of the ball, and the coach was to blame.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you are still responsible as the coach if you can\u2019t nail your fundamentals,\u201d Lloyd said on Nine\u2019s The Footy Show.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a coaching group, they have to be looked at. They have become the worst side in the competition. I think everyone would look at that and say how we got in this position?\u201d<\/p>\n Roberts, one of the rebuilding Bombers\u2019 most promising young players, said the players were right behind Scott, echoing the sentiments of former captain Zach Merrett.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope he knows, and everyone knows, that he\u2019s got the backing of all the players because we absolutely love him,\u201d Roberts, 20, told this masthead on Friday night.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t speak any more highly of him, and I want him coaching me for the rest of my career, and I know everyone in this team does.<\/p>\n \u201cI want him to know, and everyone else to know, that he\u2019s got my backing, and every person on this list\u2019s backing, and we absolutely love him to death.\u201d<\/p>\n Club chief Tim Roberts declared last week Scott would coach the Dons next year.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah look, Brad is part of the strategy, he\u2019s totally aligned. From where I sit, absolutely, Brad Scott\u2019s going to be our coach,\u201d the CEO told Seven.<\/p>\n Archie Roberts urged Bombers fans to continue to show up and support the team. Though a Richmond home game, there was strong red-and-black representation in the crowd of 78,815.<\/p>\n Roberts, May, Nate Caddy and Sullivan Robey were all among the Bombers\u2019 better players in defeat.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope they see what we\u2019re building and the future ahead,\u201d Archie Roberts said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis season\u2019s not done, and we\u2019re going to be taking it right up to every team we play this year, but I think they can see a lot of excitement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love you guys [the supporters], and they\u2019re awesome every single week, every year. Please keep turning up because we need them going into games. We felt them tonight, and without them, we\u2019re no chance.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Essendon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/88498f730d88b24cfe16b016ed1aef017962b21d.jpeg\")
Essendon coach Brad Scott is dealing with another injury crisis at the club.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Archer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8266e0340626c8a39866b3a0053d959e5e795883.jpeg\")
Archer May (centre) was hospitalised on a brutal night on the injury front for Brad Scott\u2019s besieged Bombers.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Archie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/94e2ef526e769d92358459ca2c0809c40e6e2e80.jpeg\")
Archie Roberts, in a scuffle with Seth Campbell, has thrown his support behind Brad Scott.AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n
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