North Melbourne great David King isn’t sold on Essendon’s appointment of Brad Scott as the club’s next senior coach.
Scott coached the Kangaroos from 2010-2019 and led the club to back-to-back Preliminary Finals in 2014 and 2015.
The pair famously clashed on field in the coach’s last game in charge of the Kangaroos, with Scott clipping King – who was completing broadcast duties with Fox Footy - with his shoulder on the way to the three-quarter-time huddle.
King explained why he became a vocal critic of Scott as his time neared an end at Arden Street, which ultimately led to the on-field clash.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that we’re not great fans of each other, I don’t think that’s outside the flags to sort of say that,” King said on SEN Breakfast.
“I wrote an article about him calling him a visitor, I didn’t think he completely embraced the full club at periods of time, it was that week and he moved on not long after.
“He wouldn’t have been happy with me at that stage, he had been there for 10 years, so it was harsh to be fair.”
While the Kangaroos made two Preliminary Finals during his time at the club, King questioned his credentials with his highest home and away finish at the club coming when North finished sixth in 2014.
“It’s okay to be an experienced coach,” King explained.
“But he coached for 10 years at the Kangaroos and not once ended the home and away season in the top four, not once.
“They were in the top four for about 12 weeks (in his tenure), if you’re going to be a coach for a decade, you’d want to finish top four in the home and away, wouldn’t you?”
While King conceded he didn’t have the information behind why Scott was hired by Essendon, he pondered what went wrong for Adem Yze who was long considered the front-runner.
“It’s always a hard one, you’re not privy to most of the information,” King said.
“They (Essendon) make their own calls and they’ll either be right or wrong.
“But I think the overarching concern for me is what has happened to Adem Yze? I thought he was going to get one of either role at GWS or Essendon.
“I would love to know why he’s not the senior coach of Essendon today, I’d love to know what the specifics are.”
Scott worked as the AFL’s head of football throughout 2022 after taking on Steve Hocking’s role.
He coached 211 games for North Melbourne and won more than 50 per cent of his games in charge.