Veteran AFL journalist Mike Sheahan is of the opinion that Ben Rutten will replace John Worsfold as Essendon’s senior coach next season.
Worsfold is contracted at Tullamarine for another season but is under pressure to make the finals following the club’s recruitment drive that secured the likes of Dylan Shiel, Devon Smith, Adam Saad and Jake Stringer.
The seventh-placed Bombers are coming off back-to-back defeats to Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs by a collective margin of 163 points.
“My guess, and it’s only a guess, that even before last week Woosha wasn’t going to get the job next year,” Sheahan told SEN Breakfast.
“If you ask me now how I think it will unfold, I think they’ll pass on Woosha and that Ben Rutten will be in the chair next year.
“They should be playing finals. The expectation at the start of the year was that they will play finals. I think their results have been terrible this year.”
Essendon take on Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, needing a win from one of their final two games to secure a finals spot.
Bombers great Tim Watson feels the criticism of Worsfold is harsh, pointing to the injuries to several of the club's key players.
“It’s the players that are injured. Five of their best six players have missed a significant amount of the season,” Watson said.
“Smith’s been out for most of the year, (Joe) Daniher’s been out for most of the year, (Tom) Bellchambers has been out for a long period of time.”
Highly rated Richmond assistant coach Blake Caracella will return to Essendon in 2020, joining the likes of Rutten in Worsfold’s backroom staff.
Listen to Mike Sheahan’s chat on SEN Breakfast in the player below: