Essendon president Andrew Welsh has strongly backed senior coach Brad Scott, saying that he believes Scott will be Essendon’s next premiership coach.
Welsh, in a wide-ranging interview that followed a briefing from senior figures with this masthead, said there was no reason to think Scott would not be the coach to deliver the drought-breaking flag.
Welsh, who has taken a hands-on approach as president in the football area as the club continues to reset with a new chief executive and a list plan that started in 2023, said the Bombers had taken the “hard path” of a youth policy and knew the heat would come on the club, but that it was the right path.
“We’re of absolute belief that Brad will be our next premiership coach. There’s no reason for us to think otherwise,” Welsh told this masthead, when asked about Scott’s position.
“We’re seeing, as I said, the progress in development and across the team, we’re all very aligned on the path that we’ve taken around building the list and the players that we’re bringing in, and we knew that there was going to be times with a young group that the heat will come, which is why we’ve needed to remain connected internally.
“Big focus on that within the club because we know it’s the right path in the way we’re going about it. We just know it’s probably the unfavorable path and it’s the hard path, but it’s the best path to set the footy club up for success.”
Welsh added: “At this stage, all the metrics that we’re following and the work that Brad’s doing with the playing group, we see no reason why he’s not going to be our next premiership coach.”
Fourth-year Essendon coach Scott is contracted until the end of 2027. The Bombers would face a significant payout if they part ways with him.
Welsh spoke to this masthead on Monday in an on-record interview that followed a briefing with key figures at the club, headed by Welsh and new chief executive Tim Roberts. Tellingly, Scott was also at the briefing, a contrast to Carlton’s recent round of media interviews with only chief executive Graham Wright and president Rob Priestley.
Essendon had arranged the interview with the president before their victory over Melbourne on Saturday which buoyed spirits and ended a 17-match losing streak. The message from the president was in line with the club’s stance – that they would continue on their youth path, which focused on the need to source and develop elite talent and was mindful of the impact of Tasmania’s entry on the coming drafts.
Welsh acknowledged that the first two games of 2026 were disappointing.
“The first two weeks performances weren’t as expected, quite disappointing. I think from the North Melbourne game, we had a poor quarter and a half. And then played quite well after that,” he said.
“Two and a half quarters of the Bulldogs, very impressive the intensity was high. Defence was starting to gell, getting a few games into each other. And then on the weekend with Melbourne I thought that was our best full game performance in the last couple of years.”
Essendon have been training differently under new conditioning boss Mathew Inness, moving to a higher speed and intensity-style.
Welsh also revealed:
* That the club had taken on board Zach Merrett’s suggestions after the star midfielder and now ex-captain sought a trade to Hawthorn.
“When it arose, list management and coaching went through and then presented back to football governance on why Zach shouldn’t be traded from a football perspective, which was very compelling already – an elite player, and a leader of the club and a lot of respect as an Essendon person.
“From that point on, there was no need to engage on any conversations on trading Zach because it wasn’t something that the board would be doing on advice from list management.
“That was pretty evident from the start, and we knew the pressure would come. But we didn’t want to back out of our strategy of what was best for the club, and that was to keep Zach and listen to Zach around the areas that we needed to work on as a club, which we did … and he’s seen those changes have been made already, he’s in the best frame of mind, he’s performing really well.”
* That the greatest challenge facing the Bombers was sticking to their plan of building a sustainable list.
“The biggest challenge is sticking to the plan of building a list that’s going to last and a list that will give the club the ability to retain that status of being the biggest club, on and off the field, in the country.”
* That the Bombers had only two elite players, according to Champion Data – Merrett and the injured Nic Martin.
“I think on Champion Data we have two in the elite category, one being Zach, and the other being Nic Martin, who hasn’t played … and didn’t play much last year because of the ACL injury.”
But the club believes recent drafts have yielded elite talent, especially the 2025 crop (pick 10 Jacob Farrow was the AFL rising star for Gather Round).
Welsh said the Bombers believe they have elite talent within the list that will emerge. “A high number that will, with through good development and good learnings, will move into that elite category over time.”
* That Essendon’s list management team were searching for only specific types of experienced players – “certain type of elite players.” The Dons have been fielding the second-youngest team in the AFL often this year and have only one player 30 or over (Merrett). “We need to make sure that we’re an attractive club that can get a seat at the table once those conversations start.”
* Essendon would “love” to have Port superstar and free agent Zak Butters, like many other clubs in Victoria. The Bulldogs and Geelong have been viewed as the leading contenders for Butters.
“So that’d be a list management decision, but I think we’d be one of number of clubs that would love to have Zak Butters on our list. But it’s what it takes and how to get there, I think, you know would be challenging with a lot of the other clubs that are out there and where they’re at, but certainly a player I personally rate extremely high.”
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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.
