Essendon midfielder Andrew McGrath has provided an insight into how the setup works between John Worsfold and senior coach in-waiting Ben Rutten.
The 2020 season is Worsfold’s last as Bombers senior coach with Rutten to take over officially from the beginning of 2021.
McGrath told Garry Lyon and Tim Watson on SEN Breakfast that Rutten has taken a more hands-on role with the players this year.
“This season John has given Ben, not full control, but a lot of control over our game plan and matchday role so we’re really clear where that sits,” he said.
“Ben will address us 90% of the time in front of the group at the breaks.
“They’ve both been really mature about it, they’ve worked seamlessly together.”
The 2017 Rising Star winner said the playing group is clear on what to expect from each of the coaches.
“The co-operation and teamwork they’ve had to keep the messaging clear and for us to know what to expect on gameday and at training has been really, really good,” he said.
“I think you’ll see Ben address us a lot more on gameday, but the work John is doing behind the scenes to empower Ben and put us in a good spot is really important to us as well.
“Ben is in charge of our game plan whereas John oversees our whole program and looks after training, bits of game plan, leadership and culture and is still the face of our football club.”
McGrath said Friday night’s victory over Collingwood reflected the hard work the club has done on the training track.
“A lot of people know as us the team that rebounds really well off half-back,” he said.
“Friday night you didn’t really see much of that, it was more based around our pressure and contest work which is something that we’ve been working on really hard and it’s finally coming out in our game.
“If we can continue that it’ll hold us in a really good position for the rest of the season.”
Essendon face North Melbourne at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night as they look to improve their record to 4-1.