Embattled Essendon defender Ben McKay will not feature in his team’s clash with the GWS Giants on Saturday afternoon, as the club responds to his recent form struggles.
McKay’s Form Under Fire
McKay’s performances have been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, with AFL great Nick Riewoldt suggesting he needed a stint in the VFL after his Anzac Day display against Collingwood. Speaking on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters, Riewoldt showed vision of McKay during the game, describing it as a tough watch.
“We actually debated whether to show the vision or not because it is pretty damning, some of this stuff,” Riewoldt said. “Not choosing to run through a player, running around, and then asking the umpire for a block. It was actually hard to watch at times on the weekend, some of these efforts.”
AFL expert Kane Cornes also urged coach Brad Scott to drop McKay for his own good. “Something has to be done from a coaching point of view because we can’t continually have this out there, it’s not doing him any favours,” Cornes said on The Agenda Setters.
Fan Reaction and Whiteboard Scandal
During the clash against Brisbane on Saturday, Essendon’s own fans turned on McKay, giving him Bronx cheers when he went near the ball. Even before that game, he was in the spotlight when Brisbane’s ‘whiteboard’ scandal emerged, with nothing noted under his ‘strengths’.
Scott coached McKay at North Melbourne and brought him across on a monster six-year deal ahead of the 2024 season. “Despite the contract, they have to get something out of Ben McKay — (he’s contracted until) 2029,” Cornes said. “The VFL is there for a reason, he’s just all at sea. He’s clapping when the ball is still in play, he’s just not quite with it at the moment. So that is why you have selection integrity; you send them back to the VFL, you say, ‘Look, we might play you in the ruck, for three weeks we need you to compete. Take all the pressure out of it, I just want to see a contest, and then you deserve your place back in the side’.”
Scott’s Response and Riewoldt’s Rebuttal
After that episode on The Agenda Setters, Scott said McKay was an “easy target”. “And we’re an easy target when you put out a performance like that,” he said. “Every player in the competition has, quote unquote, confidence issues at various stages of their career. Is he just feeling great about himself? Probably not. But does that matter? Should that impact your performance? No. It’s an easy target. The ability to individualise outside external I reckon is easy, bordering on lazy.”
Riewoldt took umbrage at Scott’s “lazy” comment, saying the “vision jumped off the screen”. “Is it lazy though? I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of being lazy because I do the work,” Riewoldt said. “But is he saying it’s lazy because it’s obvious? Well, in the case that it is obvious, well then, it’s obvious to everyone, and you ask the question: why is he (McKay) still getting a game when he continues to deliver the same sort of action.”
With 7NEWS.com.au
