Brad Scott focused on win, not damage control

April 2, 2026 — 11:55am

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Essendon coach Brad Scott has vowed to chase victory over damage control when the Bombers tackle the daunting task of taming the rampant Western Bulldogs.

The winless Bombers are chasing an Easter miracle on Sunday in a game where hardly anyone expects them to be competitive let alone upset one of the early season pacesetters.

It is shaping as mission impossible for Scott and his men. Two bookmakers have set the line at 74.5 points while the Dogs are the hottest of hot favourites at $1.005, the equivalent of a 99.5 per cent winning chance. The Dons have lost 11 of their past 13 games against the Dogs, including twin defeats last year by 91 and 93 points.

The Dons did enough in a two-goal loss to North Melbourne to be spared another intense week of scrutiny but a third blowout in four games this round will see the temperature rise against at “the Hangar”.

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Scott, though, says he is intent on setting the Dons up to win this week, as he believes it will do more for their development than minimising the margin.

“You get on the front foot,” Scott said. “In boxing parlance, you throw the first punch. You have a go at the opposition.

“We’re in a stage where we’ve got to go out with an attitude and plan to get the job done. That’s what we did all of last year.

“We had challenges in that. We have challenges right now. But I think as soon as you sit on your heels and get on the back foot and try and mitigate a margin, even if you do it, are you taking your team forward?

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“We’ve talked about these investments that we made, we’re not going to back off.

“We’ve got to keep pushing and trying to improve and getting better, and mitigating the margin just to make it easier for everyone to breathe a bit, it’s not the way I approach it.”

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Forward Nate Caddy has been ruled out after experiencing delayed concussion while mature recruit Brayden Fiorini, a late withdrawal last week, is in doubt after being limited to walking laps at training on Thursday.

Scott said he was tempted to blood prized youngster Sullivan Robey, the No.9 pick from last year’s draft, and name injury-prone veteran Jordan Ridley but is wary of bringing them back too soon after injury-interrupted preparations.

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“The temptation is to rush him [Robey] in, the temptation is to rush Ridley back,” Scott said.

“We’ve got to do the right thing for the club, and not just because whatever pressure comes to bear that we make short-term decisions that are not in the best interest of the club.

“Ultimately, I’ll have to weigh that up. Robey, Ridley, is it this week or is it sometime in the future?”

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Andrew Wu writes on cricket and AFL for The AgeConnect via X or email.

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