Brad Scott has been offically announced as Essendon's next coach and may help the Bombers to have an edge over the competition given his employment history.
The Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson first broke the news that the Bombers had settled on their man, while Seven’s Mitch Cleary reported Scott had been in dialogue with the club for the past three weeks.
Scott was offically announced just after 6pm AEST.
He last coached in 2019 after leading the Kangaroos to two Preliminary Finals and is currently the league's head of football, one of the most esteemed positions within AFL house.
AFL Media’s Damian Barrett believes the role has given Scott a unique perspective on the game that could have him better placed than any other to take on the job.
“I know that his level of exposure to the footy clubs from the very next season (when he left North Melbourne) 2020, when he worked under Steve Hocking at the AFL (was huge). There’s no one better to work under in any form of football than Steve Hocking, he obviously helped Steve Hocking formulate the rules that ultimately made the game a better spectacle this year,” he told AFL Trade Radio’s The Late Trade.
“He’s well connected, well respected, he’s tapped in (throughout) the past two years to all the footy clubs, and while he was doing that for the role he had as head of football at the AFL, clearly he was able to get the spin-off bonus of that and being able to access a lot of club’s systems and intel.
“I would argue he’s gained from being outside the coaching system and the role that he’s had.
“Even just the administrative role that the head of football is at the AFL would also – I imagine – smooth out some other issues as well.”
Meanwhile, former Carlton list manager Stephen Silvagni shared a similar sentiment.
“I just think the IP (intellectual property) that he’s going to bring to the Bombers, he oversees the footy department and he oversees other clubs, so he’s got access to a range of things that no other coach in the competition would have access to,” he added.
Scott coached 211 games for North Melbourne and beat out Melbourne assistant Adem Yze and former Dons coach James Hird to the role, who were both considered the early favourites for the role.