AFL Round 23 Essendon v Richmond: Ben Rutten’s final address as Essendon coach
Ben Rutten was reduced to tears in the rooms after Saturday night’s loss. Here’s what he had to say.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Essendon coach Ben Rutten says he is committed to coaching the Bombers in 2023 but believes he “deserved better” from the club this week.
Rutten’s future has been decided at a board meeting on Sunday after the club’s failed bid to land four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson.
An emotional Rutten shed tears in the rooms post-game following the 66-point thrashing by Richmond at the MCG.
When asked how he’d describe his treatment by the club this week, Rutten said:
“It’s been disappointing, I probably think I deserved better.
“We just need to come together as a whole football club and we need to stick to our plan, put your heads down, bum up and do the work.
“Because there’s no other way for this football club to get back to where it wants to be.
“We need to come together as a club because I think we’re asking too much of our players, because our players are leading this footy club at the moment.
“We need more.”
Watch every blockbuster AFL match this weekend Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Rutten said last night the relationship between himself and the club was not broken and that he wanted to coach on next year.
“I love coaching this footy club, I love coaching the players and I have so much belief in the playing group and our staff and the people supporting me,” he said.
“What I saw this week only gives me more confidence in what we do.
“The way we stuck together and came through this week was just outstanding…I’m committed to coaching this footy club.”
Essendon captain Dyson Heppell said it had been a challenging week for Essendon’s players and, in particular, Rutten.
“It’s been a really draining week,” Heppell said.
“Things you don’t expect to rock up and have to deal with ... it’s taken its toll on him (Rutten) and the rest of the playing group.
“I really feel for him. I back him to the wall. The playing group is right behind him.
“So we’ll see where it goes from here ... I think it’s important that we stand up for him.”
With the Bombers set to rule on Rutten, Essendon great Jobe Watson lashed his former club and labelled it a ‘dysfunctional place’ on Saturday night.
“It’s been diabolical really for the football club,” Watson said on Channel 7.
“At least they’re consistent because they’re consistently don’t know what they’re doing and they “consistently get it wrong.
“For me it’s a reflection on the culture of the club and they’re operating in silos and there’s no cohesion between football departments, board, they’re all looking outward instead of looking inward.
“They are a dysfunctional place.”
Match report: Will Tigers onslaught be Rutten’s last?
- Marc McGowan
Now for Sunday’s board meeting.
Premiership dark horse Richmond will enter the finals on a four-match winning streak, the latest by 66 points over an Essendon team that is expected to be hunting for a new coach within hours.
The Tigers are aiming to become the second team in VFL/AFL history to claim the flag from seventh spot – behind the 2016 Bulldogs – in what would be their fourth premiership in six years.
After a 2-4 start, Richmond’s won 11 and drawn another of its next 16 matches, with none of the four defeats by more than six points.
One of Collingwood or Brisbane will lock horns with the Tigers in an elimination final, depending on the Magpies’ result against Carlton on Sunday.
The only negative was spearhead Tom Lynch ending the match on the bench with ice on the right side of his groin after a five-goal second half.
Lynch was launching a late bid to win the Coleman Medal before his night ended prematurely, two goals short of resurgent Blue Charlie Curnow.
But all eyes are on the dysfunctional Bombers, whose biggest loss of the week was missing out on master coach Alastair Clarkson, who instead chose to take North Melbourne’s reins.
Essendon’s last-ditch Clarkson mission blindsided incumbent Ben Rutten, who will find out on Sunday whether he will continue into 2023 – but that is considered highly unlikely.
Rutten led the Bombers to the finals in his first season in charge last year with a youth-laden side but they nosedived into the bottom four as a defensively lacking outfit.
That deficiency was again exposed at the MCG on Saturday night, as Richmond ruthlessly put 21 goals, and 141 points overall, past them, including a six-goal burst after half-time that put paid to the contest.
The margin blew out to 56 points midway through the third term, with Tom Lynch capitalising with three of his five goals and ex-skipper Trent Cotchin coming alive with nine touches in the quarter.
Dion Prestia was comfortably the best Tiger on the field and looks primed to be a difference-maker in September, when Damien Hardwick’s side will welcome back Dustin Martin (hamstring).
Emotional farewell
This was not the way Essendon’s dual All-Australian Michael Hurley deserved to go out but life and footy can be cruel sometimes.
Hurley made his name as a champion defender but he hobbled through his last game as a forward after fighting back to play again from a life-threatening hip infection ahead of last season.
There was one last memorable moment for the 32-year-old, who marked and kicked a goal from 15m on a slight angle with two minutes on the clock.
Hurley’s fellow Bombers swamped him but in a sign of the esteem with which he is held, Richmond players also congratulated him and took part in a guard of honour post-match.
He urged the club’s leaders to provide badly needed stability after a horror week.
Bombers’ ball magnet
Zach Merrett looms as Essendon’s next captain – maybe as soon as next year – and he finished a tumultuous season and week on a high with a brilliant display.
The triple Crichton medallist set the tone for his night with six disposals and two centre clearances in the first five minutes and finished with 37, four shy of his career-best 41, which he’s achieved twice.
Merrett admitted this week the club was in “a bit of a mess”, 14 months after he effectively committed the rest of his career to the Bombers on a six-year extension.
Essendon’s playing group aired their grievances with new chairman David Barham about coach Ben Rutten’s treatment and a lack of consultation on the Alastair Clarkson chase.
There will need to be some serious relationship-repairing in the coming months at Tullamarine.
Scoreboard
BOMBERS 3.2, 7.6, 9.8, 11.9 (75)
TIGERS 6.3, 10.7, 16.10, 21.15 (141)
McGOWAN’S BEST Bombers: Merrett, Draper, Wright, Shiel, Parish, Hind. Tigers: Prestia, Lynch, Ross, Baker, D.Rioli, Cotchin, Sonsie.
GOALS Bombers: Wright 3, D’Ambrosio 2, Stringer, Parish, Menzie, Heppell, Draper, Hurley. Tigers: Lynch 5, Cumberland 3, Edwards 3, Prestia, M.Rioli, Miller, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Bolton, McIntosh, Ross, Pickett, Sonsie.
INJURIES Bombers: Stringer (concussion). Tigers: Lynch (groin).
UMPIRES Rosebury, O’Gorman, Dore
VENUE MCG
CROWD 58,366
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
McGOWAN’S VOTES
3 D.Prestia (Rich)
2 Z.Merrett (Ess)
1 T.Lynch (Rich)
More Coverage
Originally published as AFL Round 23 Essendon v Richmond: Ben Rutten’s final address as Essendon coach
TV network responds to bombshell Dusty pic
AFL broadcaster Fox Footy has released a statement after a photo of Richmond legend Dustin Martin sent the footy world into a tailspin.
AFL confirms worst kept secret about 2025
After experimenting in recent years, the AFL will make a permanent change to the fixture as part of a massive new TV deal.