Essendon captain Andrew McGrath called a players-only meeting immediately after his side’s second consecutive smashing to start the 2026 season, as pressure builds on the club’s leaders to help pull them out of their decades-long hole.
Nine’s Damian Barrett reported on Footy Classified “a range of frustrations were aired amongst the 23 players including frustrations with each other” and with how they had “twice been easily dismantled” following Sunday’s 63-point loss to Port Adelaide.
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But it comes as McGrath himself was called out for what one AFL great believes was a self-centred act during the loss to the Power, with demands for the Bombers’ leaders to take greater responsibility during games.
McGrath took over the captaincy from Zach Merrett following the ex-leader’s off-season request to be traded to Hawthorn.
He heads a leadership group with limited experience including Kyle Langford, Mason Redman, Sam Durham, Jye Caldwell, first-year Bomber Brayden Fiorini, and the injured Nic Martin.
“When you watch the games back, the things it looks to me they lack is on-field leaders,” Hawthorn champion Jordan Lewis said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
“So these leaders might be great in the theatrette in terms of pointing out things, and where should I stand here, and this might be wrong, but it’s not translating to on the field.
“There’s no pointing. There’s no communication. When there’s an error, the players go into themselves with their heads down and go back to their positions.”
He added: “Usually when you’re part of the leadership group, you’ve got your own backyard in order, so then you actually give stuff to the rest of the team.”
‘Essendon are still easy to play’ | 04:46
But the On the Couch team showed multiple incidents where the likes of Caldwell, McGrath and Merrett failed to communicate in crucial moments leading directly to Port Adelaide goals.
“Zach Merrett comes into the stoppage with (Willem) Drew and hands him over, says not my job any more, I’m gonna pass him over,” Richmond great Jack Riewoldt said on Fox Footy.
“You can see McGrath there. If you see a free player in your D50, you are screaming, ‘there’s a free player’. (McGrath) just puts the arm up, just worried about his man, Merrett’s man has gone in by himself and gets an easy shot on goal.
“That there is a lack of communication. Andrew McGrath is looking after one person, and one person only.”
Lewis was part of the selection panel which brought Brad Scott to the Bombers after the 2022 season and revealed he saw issues during that review period.
“The club has failed to develop talent. You look at the talent they’ve got in – there’s 13 first-rounders on their list, a lot of them have gone backwards,” he said.
“I remember sitting in a room with a young key forward at the time, who was two years into his career, and hadn’t yet been caught forward craft. That gives you a bit of an idea of their development program prior to the review and to Scott getting there.”
Bombers’ season off to horror start | 02:58
Earlier in the night on AFL 360, Melbourne great Garry Lyon questioned coach Brad Scott’s press conference behaviour which included strong criticism of his players.
“The problem I have with the coach saying they’re demoralised is there might be half or dozen or 10 of them who don’t think they’re demoralised,” Lyon said on Fox Footy.
“But in the end it’s self-fulfilling.
“Your coach says we’re demoralised and they go: ‘are we? We must be’, so they become demoralised because the coach says they are.
“I didn’t like it, I didn’t like the singling out of (Nate) Caddy.
“Maybe it just got to a stage where he (Scott) thought he had no other choice.”
His co-host, veteran broadcaster Gerard Whateley, responded: “I thought that’s the language that we’d extrapolate on a Monday and it escalates.
“I think you come into a season you want there to be a level of hope and optimism, and Essendon clearly aren’t living that.
“I think if I were the (Essendon) CEO or the president today I would have wanted to just sit down and ask ‘do you still believe in what we’re doing?’
“And then it spreads out into the broader question of ‘what are they doing?’”
Brad Scott says ‘we’re demoralised’ | 09:03
Whateley questioned whether the Merrett trade saga was linked to the current poor vibes emerging from Tullamarine.
“They lived through an off season where their general, their best player said to them: ‘hey, I don’t believe in this anymore’,” Whateley said.
“That’s what Zach Merrett said when he asked to be traded.
“He wants to win and he doesn’t believe the winning is going to happen at Essendon and that filters through.
“Did we think that was just going to exist in isolation?
“If you want to examine ‘demoralised’, the general said ‘this plan is going to fail.’
“So the troops have all gone ‘we’re just marching to impending doom here’.
“I don’t know how you get out of a cycle like this.”
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