Essendon Senior Coach Brad Scott says his side has significant work to do after a disappointing performance against Port Adelaide.

After a challenging start to the 2026 season, Scott was honest in his assessment - doubling down on the team's focuses around coaching, development and fight.

Scott on... accountability and response

“Clearly we've got to work on all parts of our game, but at the moment we're consistently putting ourselves under massive pressure through basic mistakes and that's incredibly frustrating for everyone involved.

“We've just got to keep coaching it, keep teaching it, keep improving the fundamentals of the game.”

Scott on... pressure and turnovers 

“Our inability to hold onto the ball under pressure was terrible.

“At times we did win the ball, we coughed it straight back up again.

“When you concede 88 points from direct turnover, just from pretty basic mistakes, it's going to be hard to compete.” 

Scott on... handling pressure, 'effort vs. structure'

“I don't think structurally, we fumbled the ball. I think it was more to do with just our inability to absorb pressure.

“When really good teams play each other, it's fierce in the contest and the team that can absorb that pressure the best usually prevails, and we just couldn't get that done today.” 

Scott on... defensive intent

“Our pressure was non-existent. 

“We're not hard-nosed enough in defence… all over the ground.”

Scott on... mindset

“We've got some players at the moment who are not at that level, we're developing those skills to work through it, but they haven't mastered them yet.

“So that's largely my responsibility.

“But the moves that we've made, I'm still extremely confident that they will set us up really well for the medium-to-long term.” 

Scott on... message moving forward 

“You've only got two options.

"You can give up or you can fight."