IT WAS a brief comment volunteered as part of a wider narrative, and it proved that even under the heavy weight of mounting game-day losses, Brad Scott's political savviness was as sharp as ever.
"The fortunate thing for us is our president was on the board, he 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," the Essendon coach said on Fox Footy on Monday night of a 2023 season decision to "reset" the Bombers' playing list with a focus on national draft selections.
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The public messaging was off-the-cuff, clever and simple. Scott was reminding everyone that Andrew Welsh and Tim Roberts, and by extension the Bombers' board, also carried responsibility for the unfolding streak of losses which on Sunday led to a 30-year low of just 25,100 spectators attending an Essendon MCG home match.
"They (Welsh and Roberts) are all-in on it," Scott continued. "But I don't think like that because it just unhelpful. My job is to lead this strategy through. I just do my job. I don't worry too much about what might happen in the future."
Scott's comments came two days after the Bombers' ninth loss of the season, a defeat by Fremantle, a 22nd loss from the past 23 matches.
Essendon's constant state of mess is clearly not all Scott's fault. The club's boardroom has been even more non-functional than the playing list.
Late last year, Welsh took over the running of Essendon after a messy, even by Essendon standards, and bizarre three-year stint by David Barham as president. In late 2022, seven years after he assumed a board position, Barham rolled then-president Paul Brasher, sacked Ben Rutten as coach (a year after he had reached finals), forced the exit of CEO Xavier Campbell and tried to get Alastair Clarkson to coach before appointing Scott.
Barham then appointed a CEO, Andrew Thorburn. He lasted one day.
Roberts, a Bombers director since 2022, became the club's CEO in February, after Craig Vozzo stood down.
And now Vozzo has been tasked by Welsh, Roberts and the board with a project to identify "best practice" business on how the club should set up all aspects of its football operations. I would have thought such a project would have been part of Vozzo's remit as CEO in 2023-25. But this is Essendon in 2026, four years after Barham blazed in with a public mantra of being "an agent for some sort of change".
Welsh has spoken to media once this year, with those words strategically distributed the week after the Bombers' only win of the season, extraordinarily against Melbourne in Gather Round, to two media outlets.
Scott will continue to sell the continued recruitment through the national draft of players including Nate Caddy – who does already look very special after just 36 matches – Archie Roberts, Sullivan Robey, Dyson Sharp, Jacob Farrow and Isaac Kako.
"My commitment, and I think it takes a special kind of lunatic to lead this sort of thing, because if you weren't focused on the club's future and you were worried about your position, you have a very different strategy," Scott also said on Fox Footy.
"You go and get as many experienced players and high-quality players as you could for the short term.
"We didn't do that and I fully endorse that strategy and support it, and I am tasked with the responsibility of leading it. I intend to see it through."
On Friday night, Essendon plays the only team below it on the ladder, Richmond. In round 12 it plays a team currently two spots above it, West Coast, and in round 13 it plays the one immediately above it, Carlton.
President, CEO and coach are still on the same public page. There is public solidarity on the playing list strategy.
But this upcoming three-match sequence will be pivotal not just for Scott, but the continually second-guessing Bombers' board. In the history of the V/AFL, and despite hundreds and hundreds of verbal public and private assurances, there is only one language a board understands – wins on weekends.
And regardless, former captain and six-time best-and-fairest winner Zach Merrett, will again be seeking an exit in October.