Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Breakfast with Gary and Tim.
So a very busy day today, remembering the late, great Neil Danaher, and that will not be lost on anyone, and that will continue through the days and through the weeks. The state funeral's planned, and it will all culminate in a King's birthday. Melbourne Collingwood frees MND the 12th, the biggest one yet. So don't for one second think that Neil will be forgotten.
We'll also speak to Cameron Schwab, who appointed Neil. We're just pushing him back a bit because the news has come through that Brad Scott's been sacked as coach of the Essendon Football Club. I've got Tim Watson in here, obviously, and Essendon great, and Sam Edmond, the newsman. Sammy, you work on the phones.
What can you tell us? So the prevailing view on this, and repeating the news that Brad Scott removed as Essendon coach, the losses had just mounted. I mean, it is what it looks like from the outside on the inside. The team has not really improved in any way, in any meaningful way. They've been... And worse than that, they've been uncompetitive in large chunks of those losses as well.
I mean, they're last on the ladder. And that is unsustainable and has been unsustainable in the view of many who are entrusted with these decisions. So it is what it looks like. The board meeting was held. The decision was made. The timing of it is curious.
And we get a lot of messages already saying how disrespectful on the day of mourning Neil Danaher. What do you say to that?
Yeah, so this, look, I'm running ahead of it with this. We'll get more clarity on this today. There will be an explanation on this. Not all is as it would appear. So I've got some level of empathy with how it's come into the public domain. But again, we'll wait for further clarity on that.
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Chapter 2: What breaking news is announced about Brad Scott?
In regards to what happens next, an interim, as we said before, will obviously be put in place. I think it would be correct at the moment to assume that would be Dean Solomon, subject to confirmation. There's conversations happening at the hangar this morning on what they do.
I think it will be Dean, who interestingly enough, it was reported by Tom Morris on the agenda setters last night, that Dean Solomon and Brad Scott had an ordinary relationship at best. So those two didn't appear to see eye to eye in their working relationships. It wasn't great, but
Now with Brad removed, it looks as though Dean Solomon will assume the position of interim coach, subject to confirmation this morning.
Tim, from a timing point of view?
I believe this is what's happened, and that is the decision has been made, and Brad was told about it. And then the news related to Neil's passing was announced later in the day. So that had already been happened. I think that what I had been told was that it possibly would have happened yesterday had the news of Neil's death had not have broken yesterday too.
So they would have come out and announced that. And I'm not sure, Mitch Cleary broke the story?
I think so, yeah.
He was the first one to break the story this morning. He had confirmation from somewhere at the club. So I guess we're going to learn more about the actual timing part of it and whether they did hold over it or they were going to announce it later today formally.
Yeah. I don't know it as specific as that, other than to say that it's been made clear to me that it's been a very unfortunate series of events that have led to this time.
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Chapter 3: What led to Brad Scott's dismissal from Essendon?
I'm only surmising. If a decision has been made, then the very sad news comes out about now they've put in this insidious situation where... If they're seen to announce it straight away, then they're being disrespectful, and then today you're not going to be able to hang on to a story like that, of course. You can't. I just want to listen to Brad Scott, and this will be part of the discussion.
So he's with us on AFL 360 last week. Talk about alignment had started to fester. There was an undercurrent of conversation that he was under pressure. We put it to him. Does he think he and the board are aligned?
The fortunate thing for us is our president was on the board, wasn't president, but he was on the board when this strategy was put together. And our CEO was on the board when the strategy was put together. So they are all in on it. But I don't think like that because it's just unhelpful. My job is to lead this strategy through and I just do my job.
I don't worry too much about what might happen in the future. In my 15 or so odd years of being a head coach, I always present a set of KPIs to the board to measure progress. And so we have that, but no KPIs have been issued to me.
So what do we say to this, that the president and the CEO were both part of the decision making? And I'll paraphrase what Brad's saying. They knew that we were going back to the draft. They knew that there was going to be pain. They knew that we could have gone and got some more senior players and improved the win-loss column and not get belted. But they were on board as part of this decision.
We're not jaundiced because we've been involved with footy for such a long time. You've got support right up until the day you haven't.
That's right. But that's a club strategy, isn't it?
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Chapter 4: How does the timing of Brad Scott's sacking relate to Neil Danaher's passing?
That's our club strategy. What we want to do is we want to go to the draft and we want to pick up as many young, talented players as we can. We have to expedite this because Tasmania are coming into the competition. So we've got to try and do this as quickly as we possibly can. We hope that Brad Scott's going to be our next premiership coach. That's what they hoped would happen.
And clearly something has happened in terms of the way that they've been operating, the way that they've been developing the players, the communication, the things that are happening inside the four walls of the Essendon Football Club. and I would think at some stage at the appropriate time they'll have to come out and they'll have to explain themselves.
There's got to be a reason why they have acted. We said last week, the Ws and the Ls, they get you in the end. And you mentioned that before, Sammy, about when you have a record like that. And the other thing is if you look at the ā I said this to you yesterday, Gary, the fact that in the time that Brad was at North Melbourne, they were tumbling down.
His last four years, they were heading in the wrong direction. In the time that he's been in Essendon, they've been heading in the wrong direction. Now, there are reasons around that. They're not necessarily the same, but it still adds or it doesn't add or it subtracts from your overall record as a coach at a football club.
pull back and to reset. To bottom out. To bottom out, effectively. Now, when Andrew Welsh, the president, did his last round of media interviews, which was about a month ago now, six weeks ago, he said he was very confident that his absolute belief, he said that Brad Scott will be the Bombers' next premiership coach. But he did...
He did add a very important caveat, and that is that development metrics must improve. A mediocrity will not be accepted. Now, since that interview, they obviously lost to Gold Coast.
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Chapter 5: Who is expected to take over as interim coach for Essendon?
They had a mauling at the hands of Collingwood by 77 points. They lost to the Brisbane Lions by 10 goals. They lost to GWS. They lost heavily to Fremantle, and they lost... To a Richmond side, albeit they had all manner of injury in game, but a Richmond side that are struggling to put a team out there in general.
And that turned out to be the final straw, as you said earlier, that the losses had mounted and there was no marked improvement in the team in any way. They were uncompetitive and they lost on the ladder. So it was unsustainable.
Tom Morris reporting. The Essendon board decided over the weekend that if Scott wasn't going to coach in 2027, then it would be best to make the call now. The losses became too much for Scott to keep his job. Players arriving at the club as we speak. The expectation pending his desire to do the role is that Dean Solomon will be interim coach. We're going to take a break.
The James Heard factor, I know people will roll their eyes in this, but I said this six, eight weeks ago in my ā and I have no great allegiance to the Bombers ā There's no clear air at that footy club until such time as he's given his go. And this paves the way. Don't answer now. I think this paves the way for the return of Hurd. I might be way off the mark, but that's the way I'm reading it.
Give us your thoughts on it. Sammy, keep working the phones. 04339 811 16. Send through Essendon fans your immediate reaction. This is the breaking and developing story today. Brad Scott, no longer coach of the Essendon Football Club and... What's that mean for James Heard? We'll be back after this.
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