Essendon great Matthew Lloyd believes the Bombers midfield needs to see major change in order to play winning football.
The Bombers are coming off a disappointing season, failing to meet the finals expectations at the start of the year, however the form of the club’s midfielders was usually a bright spot.
Despite this, Lloyd is firm that the mix of Dylan Shiel, Darcy Parish and Zach Merrett is not a good fit, contrasting the side to the 2022 premiers.
“I also looked at the Geelong midfield and if I was Brad Scott I’d go ‘is Shiel, Parish and Merrett going to take me where it needs to take me’ or are they too small?” he questioned on AFL Trade Radio’s The Early Trade.
“Could I look at one of those guys in the trade period and go ‘do I need Darcy Parish because we’re locked away with Merrett’… the mix is wrong.
“I’d change the whole dynamic of the Essendon midfield.”
Lloyd doesn’t necessarily believe the Bombers have to be in the market for bigger midfielders, suggesting a few names already within the club that could play the role.
“Bigger bodies, so they’ve got Jye Caldwell who improved as the year went on, when they won some games he was actually running with players and then also hurting them on the way there,” he said.
“Kyle Langford has a bad run with injuries, but can we get him super fit, strong, powerful… Jake Stringer, if I get him fit, what role does he play?
“The way you see Grand Finals won would be alarming to me if I’m Brad Scott, to go ‘we can’t go with that mix of Parish, Shiel and Merrett in that midfield’.”
With Scott only being appointed as senior coach of Essendon on Thursday, making a move along the line of Lloyd’s suggestion would likely cause a big splash, something the newest Bomber expressed he wanted to avoid.
Scott told Sportsday: “The list management process, there’s obviously been a hell of a lot of work done in that space, I play a supporting role in that but I’m certainly not arrogant enough to suggest that I’m going to come in and override any of their decisions.
“I think (the list management team) are in a pretty good spot but the only thing they were seeking my alignment on is just the direction because, to be honest, if Essendon thought they were after a really quick fix for this, then I don’t think I’m the best person for the role.
“We’re all committed to the long-term build, and we want to build this club up over time, and my view is that it’s very difficult with probably the youngest list in the competition starting next year to expect a quick fix.
“We want to bring in as much young elite talent as we can, and then we want to put a great football program around that. That’s our strategy, we’ll obviously look at some opportunities for some experienced players but primarily we’re looking to bring in elite young talent.”
Lloyd had another recommendation for Scott that didn’t involve list changes, suggesting he consult with his brother Chris to address the Bombers’ defensive woes.
“If I was Brad Scott, number one, I’d be looking at the way... Geelong defend, and Essendon are the worst,” Lloyd said.
“What a person (Chris Scott) he’s got there to talk to and bounce off, the most in-form coach who is an unbelievable defensive coach.
“Essendon have had the worst defence, just terrible, terrible the way they get opened up, (Brad’s) got his own views and he’s watched a lot of footy, but you’ve got someone in Chris you can bounce off in that regard.”
With Brad Scott coming in as Essendon’s new coach and the turmoil on the board level of the club, it is shaping up to be an offseason of change for the Bombers.