Senior Coach Brad Scott chatted to the media ahead of Essendon’s annual Dreamtime at the ‘G fixture against Richmond for Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

In the wake of a disappointing defeat against the Bulldogs last week, Scott addressed the side’s review of the performance, how they’re managing external scrutiny off the back of the result and the potential returns of players from injury in the coming weeks.

The talking points from Tuesday morning’s presser:

Scott on… reviewing Saturday’s defeat

It was factual. Usually you gauge things fairly correct (post-game), but I always like to reserve a little bit in judgement once I’ve done a thorough review.

We haven't seen a team to do that well against us this year in terms of our pressure. I touched on (it) post-game, our pressure numbers and our tackling numbers on the surface looked okay, but if you dive a couple of levels underneath that, the Bulldogs were just able to absorb that and then counter us the other way.

The lesson we learn in that is that there's a big gap between where they are right now and where we want to be, and we've just got to work extremely hard on taking steps forward to bridge that gap.

Scott on… whether ‘spirit or structure’ is the focus for the week

I think it's all things.

It's very frustrating and disappointing to have poor losses but from a coaching perspective, I often find that you learn more from those games than you do from the games where you win and get a bit of positive reinforcement.

That’s really what we're looking to do, we're looking to build this team to be capable of competing against the best teams on a regular basis, and we learned a harsh lesson on the weekend.

Scott on... Dreamtime, creating pathways

We’re obviously playing a massive game this Friday night at the MCG for Dreamtime at the ‘G, we're looking to foster Indigenous pathways and that's something that I think we can always do better. 

It's been a really important part of our game’s history and that's just one element of how the Clubs and the AFL develop better pathways for all boys and girls, but in particular, as it relates to this Friday night's game, Indigenous pathways.

Scott on… potential returns

I think (Darcy Parish) is more likely to play in the VFL this week than the AFL, but provided things go well today at training, he’ll play at some level and then we'll look to have him available the week after.

In terms of other changes, it’s difficult to pick players on one week of form and the VFL having a bye. We've got some challenges in the availability space but we still have options, which is really pleasing and hopefully a couple of guys will prove their fitness today at training to be available.

Guys like Jade Gresham (have) missed a couple, so hopefully Jade's available and we'll see how he trains.

Scott on… staying focused amidst external noise

The only risk in any of that is that it distracts me from the task at hand (and) I've been really overwhelmed with the level of support and follow through.

Really, the things I made clear that were non-negotiables when I came to the Club around stability and support for all levels of the Club, our Board and Executive have delivered on those things.

I just need to focus on my job, let all the other stuff go on in the background and not let it distract me or anyone else who's in a position of coaching or Executive at the Club.

One thing you learn in 30 years of the AFL industry, there's always something going on and I think that the more you get distracted by those things, you take your eye off what you really need to be focused on.

We need to be focused on our on-field performance right now and developing this team to be the team that we want to be.

(Stability) is a prerequisite. You can't achieve what you’re trying to achieve over time without that, and I think that's pretty obvious for everyone.

Scott on… the Coaches’ meeting with AFL Executives this week

The lamb shoulder was solid - it's probably the best AFL meeting I can recall.

There were clearly a lot of things to talk about and I really felt that Andrew Dillon in particular, with his staff, really listened to all the agenda items, the coaches had - probably important to note, it's an annual event, it’s not a specially called meeting.

I felt there was really productive discussion, no doubt everyone got their thoughts out on the table and I suppose the challenge from here is what actions are taken from this point.

In terms of the AFL's willingness to listen and for the coach's voices to be heard, I thought it was really positive.

I know the coaches feel a real sense of responsibility to the game and the holistic look of the game, and it's not just funding football departments.