AFL football executive and ex-North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has shown interest in the vacant Essendon coaching position, placing him at the top of the list of candidates if he continues in the coach-search process.
AFL and industry sources said that Scott, who is a senior football operations executive at the AFL, had shown interest in the position, having been “torn”, as one source put it, about whether to stay at the league, where he is an important figure and influence in football, or put his hand up as prospective coach of the Bombers.
The AFL general manager of football Brad Scott.Credit:Paul Jeffers
If Scott’s interest is confirmed in talks this week, he would be the favourite for the job, with Melbourne assistant Adem Yze the other leading contender at this stage. Other candidates, including ex-Essendon senior coach and champion James Hird, have not yet been officially ruled out by the club. One candidate, St Kilda assistant Brendon Lade, has moved to take up an assistant position under Luke Beveridge at the Western Bulldogs.
While Essendon are committed to running a thorough process to identify their next coach, the reality is that Scott’s experience – he coached the Kangaroos to two preliminary finals over nine and a half seasons and had three years at Collingwood as assistant to Mick Malthouse – means that he can be moved quickly into a “play-off” for the position with Yze, or even offered the job outright if the panel assesses him as the standout candidate.
Essendon had hoped that Scott would show interest in the job, having seen other ex and current senior coaches decide not to chase the coaching position, including Ross Lyon, Sydney assistant and ex-Crows coach Don Pyke and Port Adelaide’s senior coach Ken Hinkley, who has one year left on his contract with the club.
Yze, who was narrowly beaten for the Greater Western Sydney senior coaching job by Adam Kingsley, has been interviewed twice by the Essendon coach-search panel, which consists of football boss Josh Mahoney, Hawthorn’s four-time premiership player Jordan Lewis, ex-Carlton premiership coach Robert Walls, board member Dorothy Hisgrove, ex-NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn and leading netball coach Simone McKinnis.
Thorburn is also leading a complete review of the club and impressed club insiders with his acumen. The Bombers also have used Lewis’ expertise for the club’s review and that of ex-Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney.
Scott has spent the past three seasons at the AFL, having left the Kangaroos midway through the 2019 season, after losing the support of then-president Ben Buckley.
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