In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- Mason Redman keen to put his hand up for the Essendon captaincy should the opportunity arise.
- Another departure from the Blues following the review of their AFLW program.
Redman keen on leadership
Jackson Graham
Essendon’s Mason Redman says he will put his hand up to captain the club if the opportunity arises, as the side bolsters weaknesses in its defence this pre-season.
But the defender says Bombers captain Dyson Heppell still wants to lead the club again and the players are yet to vote on any leadership change or discuss it.
“If it came around, and they thought I was the right man for the job, 100 per cent, I would throw my hand up,” Redman said on Thursday morning.
“At this stage, the way I look at it, Dyson is still our captain until he decides anything different.
Mason Redman says he would put his hand up to captain the Bombers if the opportunity arises. Credit:Getty
“As far as I stand, Dyson has been unreal this pre-season, he’s coming back raring to go. Whether he is captain or not captain is obviously his decision, but it’s still the way I view him out on the field as our best leader.”
Heppell, the Bombers’ captain since 2017, said in December that he wasn’t tied to the role and wanted to help mentor a new leader, adding the club wasn’t “in a rush to make a call”.
But for now, new coach Brad Scott has the players focused on improving defensively, after the Bombers have struggled for several years to stop their opponents transitioning the ball.
“It’s fair to say that defence wins premierships and that’s something we have struggled at in the past,” Redman said.
“It’s been a big focus of ours over this pre-season. I feel as though we are making good inroads into it.”
He said tall Zach Reid, who is currently injured, and Nik Cox, who has moved into defence, would bring height to the defence.
“We want to have a defence where we are not leaving our key backs on an island, we want to be coming over and helping,” Redman said.
“If we are able to defend like we are planning to, I don’t think the height will be an issue.”
Meanwhile, key forward Peter Wright had a calf injury during a match simulation last week, but Redman says scans came back clear.
“Pete’s a very important player for us, so I think they’ll take a pretty conservative approach,” he said.
“And if we can get him out there for those practice games that would be huge because he’s massive for our structure.”
Review leads to another Blue exit
AAP
Two days after sacking their AFLW coach, Carlton have axed another senior figure in the club’s women’s football program.
The Blues have told their general manager of women’s football Brett Munro he will not be offered a new contract following a scathing review into the club’s AFLW program.
Coach Daniel Harford was sacked on Tuesday after the Blues finished 14th with just two wins last season.
Munro will also move on after a review cited a lack of leadership and clarity in the women’s program.
“These decisions are never easy,” Carlton president Luke Sayers said in a statement on Thursday.
“However key findings in the review made it apparent that a change was required in relation to the leadership within our AFLW program.”
The review found there were key barriers to success relating to systems, culture, coaching structures and insufficient leadership to support and drive professionalism and elite behaviours.
Confusion with the game plan and a lack of alignment and consistency with its implementation were among the findings, which found an “undisputed need” for the senior coach position to be full-time.
Harford also works in radio and was unable to commit to a permanent role with Carlton.
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