There is no good time to sack a coach. But doing it on the same day that an icon of the club dies, following an inspirational 13-year health battle that gripped the nation, is among the worst possible.
Essendon’s board met on Monday, shortly after the passing of 2025 Australian of the Year Neale Daniher, where it was decided that Brad Scott would not see out his contract as coach into next year. Daniher’s family released a statement just after 2pm on Monday revealing the news that he had died. At 7.30am Tuesday morning, 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary broke the news that Scott had been sacked.
That Scott had been on shaky ground after yet another loss the previous weekend, this time to the last-placed Tigers who only barely had enough fit players to field a full team of AFL-listed players, was no secret. Under his watch, the Bombers had won just one of their previous 24 games, and eight of their past 42, dating back to late 2024.
But the timing of his sacking remains questionable, given the news of Daniher, who raised over $110 million for the fight against motor neuron disease since his terminal diagnosis in 2013. Asked about the timing at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Essendon president Andrew Welsh said they tried to hold off releasing the news but lost control of it.
Andrew Welsh faced media after the sacking of Brad Scott. “When the decision was made with the board, it was the same time that the news was breaking with Neale,” Welsh told reporters. “I had spoken to Brad around the decision that the board has made. We agreed to leave it to today around the announcement, post our discussion, because we were catching up again (on Tuesday morning). The nature of the football world and the media landscape is that it was starting to break and out of our control around the messaging today. That made us get on the front foot, get into the club, talk to the players, talk to our staff, talk to our members, and organise this today.”
Welsh started the presser by paying tribute to Daniher, who played 82 games for the Bombers in a glittering but brief career that was cruelly cut short by injuries. “Before we start, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of Neale Daniher AO,” he said. “Neale was a beloved Bomber, an extraordinary human being, and one of the most remarkable people our game has ever produced. He was a champion footballer and a legend of this football club. He’s a man who spent the last decade of his life fighting not just for himself, but for thousands of Australians he would never meet. On behalf of everyone at the Essendon Football Club, we extend our deepest love and condolences to his wife, Jan, and the rest of the Daniher family.”
Tributes are flowing for AFL icon and motor neurone disease campaigner Neale Daniher. Following his playing days with Essendon, Daniher coached Melbourne for 223 games, including taking them to the 2000 grand final. But his greatest legacy is his championing of Fight MND, which has been given mainstream visibility because of his advocacy.
