Following a disappointing first two matches, Essendon coach Brad Scott addressed the media this morning, reinforcing his unwavering optimism despite the external "noise" surrounding the club.

Scott was candid about the team's current struggles with execution but remained steadfast in the long-term direction of the playing group.

Scott on the post-game review and response…

“We continue to work on the things we worked on in the preseason that we’re not executing. So there’s nothing new in terms of what we’re working on.

We’ve just got to double down on execution, and I’m very optimistic.

We can look very different to what we’ve produced in the first two weeks, but we’ve just got to understand what we’re doing.

We’ve got a very clear strategy, and there’s short-term risk in that.

In terms of the way we need to coach, we need to have an attitude of continuing to teach.

We’ve got to make sure our players are learning what we’re trying to execute.

As I said, we have a high level of optimism that what we’ve produced in the first two weeks is nowhere near what this group is capable of, let alone what the potential is in this group.

The last two weeks have been very disappointing, but we also understand we’ve got work to do. But we knew that six months ago.” 

Scott on accountability and standards…

After a loss like that you’ve got to think about who I’m talking to. Majority of the time in a post-game press conference, I’m talking to the players.

I speak to players first and foremost, and then fans after that.

I’ve already spoken to the players post-game.

They are crystal clear as to what I’m talking about.

If you make a mistake and you get demoralised by it, and more importantly, if the rest of the team gets demoralised by it, you’re being selfish because you’re thinking about yourself and not the team.

So be disappointed but get back into the contest.

That’s part of the area of growth for us as a team.

It’s really hard now, but character is revealed through adversity, and when you can fight through those situations, you become more resilient over time.” 

Scott on Nate Caddy’s response…

“What Nate Caddy did in the second half and we talked about this as a group, post-game and in review was outstanding.

The players voted for Caddy as their player of the week, not because of his four goals in the second half, but because of his response to, in his own words, an embarrassing moment.

Caddy has grown before our eyes in one week.

Where he is right now compared to where he was six months ago, it’s chalk and cheese.

That’s the reason why players like Caddy and a whole lot of others keep me optimistic about this group, because they’re made of the right stuff.” 

Scott on leadership…

“All of our players are leaders.

We have a leadership group, but that’s just normal.

There’s been nothing abnormal this week.

Zach has been great and he continues to work really hard. Him rolling through leadership meetings is nothing new. Zach wants to be part of the solution. I couldn’t be happier with him this week and his input.”  

Scott on clarity, development and gameplan…

“When you turn over your list by 39 players in four years, it’s going to look a little bit disjointed.

This is what I love doing, I love developing, I love teaching.

Is it frustrating in the short term? Yes, it is.

But it’s also unfair on our entire group to expect them to nail everything.

While it’s frustrating, it’s really hard for our fans, there’s a lot of noise and pressure on the club.

You can’t spend any time thinking about that.

You’ve got to think about what we do about it.

So we just keep coaching it, we keep teaching it.

Is there confusion at times? That’s to be expected, but that’s my job to clarify that.

There’s nothing new this week in what we’ve coached, but I think we’ll look different (going forward).” 

Scott on short-term pain vs long-term growth…

“We deliberately chose not to bring in older players to support the young players.

We’ve got young players supporting our young players at the moment.

That’s a risk.

But that’s why we have this strategy.

I wouldn’t be doing this if I couldn’t see a clear path to the medium to long term of what this team is going to look like.

I’ve never been more optimistic about that.

Mainly, that optimism is built on the character of this playing group.

We’ll have short-term fluctuations, we’ll have really bad games, we’ll have really bad quarters.

But if I’m right about the character of this group, I know they’re made of the right stuff.” 

Scott on the external noise…

“I’ve been here before, and I know the way out.

It’s not about me, what will be, will be.

When you’re a head coach, it ends at some point, it’s just a matter of how and when.

All I can assure everyone is that I’m extremely optimistic about what we’re doing.

We made really hard short-term decisions for the medium to long term.

Let’s see it through.” 

Scott on selection…

“I’ve never been a big believer in making statements at selection.

You challenge players to respond, and they either do or they don’t.

I don’t make knee-jerk reactions, players know they’ve got to give the effort that’s required.

I’m pretty keen to give those players the opportunity to respond.”