AFLW All-Australian Kate McCarthy has criticised how Essendon handled the sacking of Natalie Wood, after the Bombers' inaugural coach was left to front the media alone in the wake of the news breaking.
As first reported by AFL.com.au's Riley Beveridge, Wood was advised last Tuesday that her contract will not be renewed beyond 2026, with Essendon CEO Tim Roberts and AFLW general manager Aysha Ward sharing the news with the playing group after their loss to Hawthorn on Sunday.
Shortly after, Wood fronted the media in a mandatory post-match press conference, with McCarthy questioning the club's decision to let her do it alone.
"I thought it was almost a little bit disrespectful to make Natalie Wood be the one to front the questions," McCarthy said on AFL.com.au's The Wrap.
"She's just articulated that Tim Roberts and Aysha Ward held that meeting and they spoke in that meeting and Natalie Wood (was too emotional) to actually speak in that meeting herself. This was the first time she has spoken about it to anyone and it's a post-match press conference.
"I would have loved if Tim Roberts went up and stood beside her and said, 'This is the post-match press conference, if you have questions about the match, Natalie is here to answer those. If you have any questions around the future of the Essendon AFLW program or the coach, I'm here to answer those questions.'
"I think that it's a lack of leadership from Essendon. And I think it was really tough on Natalie Wood."
The Wrap co-host Joel Peterson agreed with McCarthy, emphasising that answering questions on a club's decision to part ways with the coach would not be expected of an AFL coach.
When Essendon announced in May this year that tit had sacked their men's senior coach Brad Scott, Roberts held a press conference alongside Bombers president Andrew Welsh.
They weren't the only club to roll out club leadership in the wake of a coach departure in 2026.
Carlton president Rob Priestley, CEO Graham Wright and general manager of football Chris Davies held a press conference after Michael Voss resigned in May, and North Melbourne's CEO Sonja Hood and footy boss Todd Viney faced the media after they sacked Alastair Clarkson in September.
In AFLW, there have now been two mid-season announcements of coach departures this year, where the first opportunity for media to ask questions of the club have instead been in said coach's post-match press conference.
Like Wood, the day after St Kilda's senior coach Nick Dal Santo made the decision to step down following a poor season, he fronted the media in a post-match press conference without club leadership alongside him.
"This wouldn't happen in men's footy. This categorically would not happen in this way in men's footy," Peterson said.
"There would have been something arranged by the club where the CEO or president or whoever would have been there to speak on that matter. And yes, the coach would get questioned about this, but this wouldn't have happened in this way. So, it's a disappointing way for Natalie Wood to have to handle that."
McCarthy did not begrudge the club for making the decision to part ways with its inaugural coach, given the Bombers' inability to contend in recent years, but did stress that the way it was handled was where she took issue.
"I think there's been questions at times around Essendon and their ability with their gameplan, what they can do," McCarthy said.
"And again, instability. Instability with positions of strength and conditioning, with heads of football, things like that. They affect the whole group, and they affect the coach at the end of the day, with the availability of players. I think the writing was pretty much on the wall, you would have thought.
"I just don't know if the manner in which this has been handled from a media perspective in terms of the club PR with media outlets has necessarily been the right thing to subject Natalie Wood to.
"It left a little bit to be desired from an Essendon perspective, a club that's had a lot of change in a lot of different roles and a lot of instability."