Premiership coach Adam Simpson has questioned a hapless Essendon’s playing identity despite a devastating injury list easing the pressure on Brad Scott’s immediate future.
The crippled Bombers are languishing in last place with no relief in sight after losing to 17th-placed Richmond by 18 points in a match of carnage at the MCG before 78,815 people – 10.14 (74) to 7.14 (56) – on Friday night.
Captain Andrew McGrath is expected to have surgery on a broken jaw this week, Archie May was taken to hospital as a precaution after copping a whack to the kidney, Sam Durham suffered concussion, Matt Guelfi is expected to miss weeks with a hamstring strain and Jye Caldwell reaggravated an ankle syndesmosis injury and is unlikely to fly to Perth to take on West Coast next Sunday.
The stricken Bombers now have 18 players on their injury list – a devastating scenario that perversely should protect the future of their senior coach, even though Essendon have won just one of their past 24 games.
“That’s the challenge for Brad, regardless of the noise – how do you stay motivated when you’re planning your footy trip at round 11?” Simpson said on SEN.
Essendon face West Coast, Carlton, Melbourne, North Melbourne and St Kilda in their next five games. Their only win came against the Demons in Gather Round.
Despite their depleted list, Simpson questioned whether the on-field trauma on Friday night masked a poor result for Essendon, considering they were beaten by an equally stretched Richmond.
“You could see a real identity with Richmond from the very beginning,” Simpson said of the Friday night Dreamtime at the ’G clash.
“You can see what they’re trying to do from a style of play, their leaders are all set in their roles and their positions, and so from a Richmond point of view it’s a big step forward on a big stage.
“From a Richmond point of view, we saw a bit of identity, and for Essendon we saw more carnage, and perhaps another step back in the progression towards ultimately winning some games.”
Richmond lost spearhead Tom Lynch during the match, who was hospitalised after being hit in the voice box, and Jonty Faull to concussion, while unlucky forward Tom Sims suffered a suspected ACL injury during the Tigers’ VFL match on Saturday. It was his first game back in 268 days.
But despite a significant injury list, the Tigers have been able to lift themselves further away from the bottom of the ladder with their second win of the season.
In contrast, former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said Scott had to find ways to motivate his playing group despite their season being “effectively finished”.
“You’ve got to go into this mode of how do I develop players if we feel like we can’t win,” Hinkley said on SEN.
“I think it’s a really big challenge for anyone in coaching.”
Simpson said Essendon was still struggling for purpose as they dealt with a rebuild.
“Then you look at (Tigers coach) Adam Yze. From the beginning, he wanted the spirit and fight bit as an underlying, ‘we do this no matter what’,” Simpson said.
“But the way they play, it’s pretty aggressive in terms of a straight line game, and every now and then they’ll switch it and go straight, but I can see it.
“And I can see (Tim) Taranto, Lynch, (Jacob) Hopper, (Jayden) Short, (Nathan) Broad and (Nick) Vlastuin all play their roles in a really set way. They know what they’re doing in terms of their positioning.
“So it’s clear for me what evolution looks like for them, and when I look at the Bombers, I don’t think they’ve worked out their identity just yet, and even with a few injuries here and there, before the game we’re trying to work out what’s their DNA.
“When you start at a club, you’ve got to put a few lines in the sand about, ‘this is us as a team, this is what we do well, and this is what we’re going to fall on when times are tough’. I they’re still working on that, let alone winning games.”
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