AFL 2024: Essendon coach Brad Scott calls for more umpiring transparency

Brad Scott wants a “heads up” from the AFL umpiring department on which rule will be spotlighted this weekend before Essendon opens round 19 against Adelaide on Friday night.

The Bombers coach agreed with his brother and Geelong counterpart Chris Scott that there was an obvious crackdown on the 15m rule last week – and said clubs should have been made aware in advance.

Scott said the communication with umpires had been great when Essendon had “initiated” contact but wanted the league to be on the front foot with clubs about how umpires were being coached.

“Umpires get coached like players get coached, and the key component in there is we would like a bit more information as to what the umpires are being coached on,” he said on Tuesday.

“Generally, what you coach is what you get. All games of footy across the weekend, when the ball was kicked 14m, it was called play on – the week before that wasn’t happening.

“Clearly that was highlighted, clearly that was coached, but it wasn’t communicated to us.

“We’re the Friday night game this week … you generally take your cue from the way the Friday night game is umpired, so we wouldn’t mind a heads up in terms of what’s being coached.”

Scott said the razor-thin margins between the second and 13th placed sides had been behind the fierce external heat on umpiring this season rather than a deterioration in performance.

“It’s really exciting, but it’s on a knife’s edge. It makes it so competitive and so tight – little things make big differences,” he said.

“The focus is more on umpiring because it’s so tight. If games were decided by big margins and there were big gaps between the best teams and everyone else, umpiring wouldn’t be a focus like it is.”

The coach said he was disappointed by the Bombers’ execution rather than effort in wet conditions against Melbourne on Saturday but added there was little point “doubling down on our wet weather footy” when four of their next five games would be under the roof at Marvel Stadium.

He repeated that the Bombers’ mix of talls in their forward half was a work in progress as he praised ruckman Nick Bryan’s consistency in the VFL.

Scott confirmed Jayden Laverde was available for the Crows clash after he was managed last week, while Darcy Parish was at least one week away from returning from a hamstring injury.

In-form on-baller Jye Caldwell wore a compression sock on his right calf but appeared to move freely through Tuesday’s session.

The important ball winner, who has been sidelined since round 9, was put through change of direction and skills work on Essendon’s second oval away from main training.

“He’s a bit of a hard one to give an exact return date on, but he’s in full match simulation mode and doing big sessions,” Scott said.

“There’s a school of thought that you don’t play your guns in the VFL, but Jordan Ridley would say ‘if it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough for Darcy’.

“We’ve had some players in really good form at VFL level … we’ve got a fair bit to work through. We’ll almost certainly have some selection headaches, which is a good thing.”