A new day has dawned at the Essendon Football Club following the appointment of new coach Brad Scott, Bombers life member and 2000 premiership assistant coach Robert Shaw says.
Shaw praised the independent external process that led to Scott securing the vacant coaching position, and believes his hiring should be celebrated, embraced and supported by everyone associated with the club.
Shaw was also confident the results of the ongoing external review of the club, and impending announcement of a new CEO, would further add to the rare positivity the club had been enjoying since Scott’s appointment.
New Essendon coach Brad Scott and club president David BarhamCredit:Getty Images
“This is about transformational change and it always has been and it started at board level, it’s continued at executive level and the coach is a great appointment and, to me, it’s evolution, not revolution,” Shaw told The Age.
“I’ve always been a huge supporter of the external review, I think the club badly needed that, so I’m right behind the direction that (new president) Dave Barham is heading.
“I like the independence and the objectivity of the coaching selection panel and the review panel, so I think it’s been a good few days for the Essendon Football Club.
“Processes under previous regimes weren’t as rigorous and prudent in hiring people to key positions at the club. Hopefully we are seeing a new dawn in transparency, process and accountability.”
Shaw refused to be drawn on Essendon legend, and current board member, Kevin Sheedy’s comments about how he wanted James Hird to be the Bombers’ new coach instead of Scott, but said the time had come for the club to become united.
“We do not need the distractions of the last day or so, we should be totally united behind Brad, Barham, the new CEO whoever he is, and, with finger crossed, the external review adds to the evolution,” Shaw said.
“We’ve got an opportunity to start afresh and move forward from today.”
Regarding the Bombers’ on-field fortunes, with the trade, free agency and draft periods set to take place over the coming months, Shaw felt the team needed another key forward, tall midfielder and key back.
Assistant coach Robert Shaw with then-Bombers captain James Hird in 2003.Credit:Ken Irwin
“I’m a spine man, so key support for Peter Wright and Harry Jones (up forward), down the middle another tall, athletic, versatile mid and, as we’ve seen through the finals campaign, the continued importance of key backs,” he said.
However, Shaw stressed that if Essendon didn’t significantly address the under-resourcing of their VFL program, as well as general human and financial resources into player development, especially given how young the list is, the team’s poor performances would continue and it wouldn’t matter who they recruited.
“To me, this has never been about the coach, it’s all about the external review coming out and finding that there is an incredible amount of work to be done off the field,” Shaw said.
“So Brad Scott’s not going to fix it, Dave Barham’s not going to fix it, unless this review makes a significant cultural and personnel paradigm shift.”
