Brad Scott didn’t hide from the scoreboard, but he didn’t hide from the bigger picture either.
After watching his Essendon side slump to a brutal 93-point defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs, the Bombers coach still managed to talk about growth, even as another key player was added to the club’s growing injury list.
Defender Jordan Ridley was subbed out before half-time with a suspected hamstring strain, deepening the woes of an already depleted backline. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, feasted on the space and chaos, piling on their biggest score since Round 14 last year, with Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy combining for 13 goals.
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But Scott, while “devastated” by Ridley’s injury, remained clear-eyed.
‘You improve as long as your attitude’s right’
“He’s got a hamstring strain, almost certainly,” Scott said post-match. “We subbed him out immediately. When he feels his hamstring... there’s no point sugar coating it. He’ll go get a scan (and) I hope to God I’m wrong, but I doubt it.”
Yet in the face of adversity, he challenged his players to focus on what they can control.
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“It’s a consistent message to our players at the moment that it’s a difficult situation we’re in, but you can choose which way you respond,” he said.
“You can make excuses, you can identify all the things that aren’t working for us… or we can focus on improvement and getting better through adversity. That’s really the only way you get better. When things are going really well, you get a little bit of reward for effort… but real improvement comes through difficult times, and no one enjoys it. But when you do hard things, you improve as long as your attitude’s right.”
Essendon’s percentage now sits at a concerning 71.9 as they head into a must-win clash against Sydney, hoping to end an eight-game losing streak that threatens to undo their early-season promise.