“Lowest point”: Watson’s grim verdict on Essendon crisis

The Bombers were listless in their 79-point loss to the Brisbane Lions on Sunday which has kept them rooted to the bottom of the ladder with just one win in 2026.

It’s been a disastrous campaign for the Dons who sacked Brad Scott in late May, hired Dean Solomon as interim coach and are currently on the hunt for the next senior coach.

“This is what I would do if I was the Essendon board - it's going to cost them a bit of money - but it might keep the supporters onside or give him some hope. Go and get everybody a copy of Neale Daniher's second book, The Power of Choice.

“It’s pertinent to what we're talking about. Within that he talks about when he was diagnosed with MND and he had to find the opportunity, as bleak as that diagnosis was, he had to walk away from that and try to find some something out of all that - which was the start of FightMND.

“So there's opportunity, and where Essendon are at now, as bleak as it is, there is opportunity in every direction for them to rebuild, reset and build a sustainable type of foundation.

“But it's going to take a lot of work and it's more than just a coach. It's a big, big club job now. It's not just about getting the appointment of your coach absolutely 100 per cent right. You need to, and you need to go through the process and find the best candidate to be the coach.

“But it's a big job, and they need to rigorously look at every department of their football club and pull it apart, and make sure that they have the best people, the best qualified people in each of those positions because it's not just about a coach and assembling talent. It's so much more than that.”

Watson replied: “Well, you have to, because you're not going to go from where Essendon is at right now to winning a flag next year.

“No one's stupid enough to believe that. So you have to be patient. But you know there are so many people who are invested in this football club, be it fans, former players, other people out there that want to see some positivity.

“They want to see some light and I guess in essence that's why it was so critical that they got the signature of Nate Caddy last week because okay, you've got your best talented young player here and you are setting them up to be part of your future and your next tilt at success down the track if you get all these other things right.

Watson admits the Bombers have not been this low since before he arrived at the club in 1977, suggesting right now is darker than the supplements saga of more than a decade ago.

“I got to Essendon in 1977. Essendon right now are at the lowest point of that whole period of time that I've been associated with. More than that (the supplements saga) right now when you look at the win-loss record.

“What is worse now is the on-field performances. Even if you go back and look at the team they had to cobble together back in that year, they were better than what this side is producing right now. So that's how far we've fallen as a team and a club.

Morris added: “I don't think the club is necessarily completely broken because I think they've got good leadership in place that can make key changes and they can build.

“But the team looks broken. Every week you watch this team and you go, ‘They cannot wait for the end of the season’.”

Watson feels it was the wrong decision to part ways with Brad Scott, even if they knew he wasn’t to be the senior coach in 2027 and beyond.

“I think it was an error to sack Brad Scott when they did, I think they'll handle it. It was like a poisoned chalice that they handed to Dean Solomon.

“I would have left Scott in and made that decision later in the year. Clubs are making those decisions all the time. They're looking at evaluating coaches and people around a football club constantly.”

“This is why I'm critical of Brad Scott in the time that he's been there. By the time he left, there was no discernible difference in the way that Essendon understood defending the ground, which has become such an important component,” he added.

“Everybody plays a full ground brand of football now. You're always engaged in the game in some way and you need to be as instructional as this is. You need to know where you are supposed to be at any given time within a 70-80 metre radius of where the ball is because you've got to be making decisions around that all the time.

Morris said: “And that was Essendon's view as well, which is why they made the choice to sack him.”

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