Brad Scott’s silver lining after Giant smashing
The Dons may have suffered another night of misery on the main stage, but coach Brad Scott was able to find the silver lining.
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In a season that has been decimated by injury, Essendon coach Brad Scott said one of the biggest positives to emerge for the Bombers were the club’s four mid-season recruits.
Liam McMahon became the final player from that crop to make his debut on Thursday night against GWS, following on from Archer May, Lachie Blakiston and Oskar Smartt, and like the other three, he showed that he belongs on an AFL field.
After his team once again suffered from a bad case of the yips by starting with eight straight behinds, it was McMahon who stood up to nail Essendon’s first goal with a beautiful set shot late in the second quarter. He followed that up shortly after with another lovely goal from even further out.
“He’s got a lot of really good attributes, Liam – kicking is certainly one of them,” Scott said.
“He’s a beautiful kick, accurate kick, penetrating kick.
“We had a very strong suspicion that he’d find a way to hit the scoreboard because he has at every level he’s played at.”
May and Blakiston have provided a strong presence up forward and down back respectively since entering the line-up, while Smartt was also lively against the Giants in just his second game.
“A bit like Liam, he’s a really powerful kick,” Scott said.
“He’s a really likeable young man but he’s a powerful, aggressive player and we picked him in the mid-season draft ... because he’s someone who loves the contest and loves competing and loves pressuring and I think he’s got a lot of attributes of some of the modern day mid forwards.
“He’s versatile, powerful, good runner, good kick, so the attributes are there.”
However, it wasn’t lost on Scott how hard it was to find synergy in a forward line that features so many new faces.
“When 50 per cent of your forward line were playing in the state league, and weren’t even on your list, six weeks ago, it’s a challenge to build connection,” Scott said.
“It’s a challenge to build connection with a young forward line over one or two pre-seasons – we’re trying to do it in a few weeks.”
Essendon had 17 players unavailable on Thursday night, including half of their best 22, and the personnel crisis doesn’t look like it’s going to improve too much between now and the end of the season. But Scott was determined for his team to not dwell on that sizeable negative.
“We actually want to rise to the challenge and be a no-excuse football club,” he said.
“We’d like to have better availability, but we field 23 fit players every week and we give opportunity to guys who deserve it.
“There’s challenges within that but what we can demand is effort, intent and the way that we compete and that largely tonight was very good against a very good opposition.”
Former Bomber Jake Stringer returned to haunt his old club with a pivotal performance that saw him register 18 disposals (11 contested), six marks, 314 metres gained, eight score involvements and three goals.
“Jake did what Jake does. He’s an impact player and I think when his team’s playing well he can finish as well as anyone,” Scott said.
“Despite what people might think ... I’m very pleased for him. He wanted to prolong his career, we’re going a different direction, I see the result there as a win-win.”
The Stringer show resigns Bombers to seventh-straight loss
GWS forward Jake Stringer has returned to haunt his old club Essendon on Thursday night with a fantastic performance in the Giants’ 48-point victory over the decimated Bombers at Marvel Stadium.
Stringer spent seven years at Essendon but joined GWS last off-season after the Bombers refused to offer him a two-year deal, and the livewire reminded Brad Scott’s side of what he was capable of.
The Bulldogs premiership player was instrumental in the 16.8 (104) to 7.14 (56) result, finishing with 18 disposals (11 contested), six marks, 314 metres gained, eight score involvements and three goals and was in the thick of multiple dangerous attacking plays.
Tom Green was also pivotal to the result, racking up a career-high 16 clearances to go with his 30 touches (17 contested) and one goal, while Finn Callaghan starred again with 33 disposals and eight marks.
The win gave Greater Western Sydney’s top-four aspirations another boost, but considering catastrophic personnel issues Essendon had to contend with, they were far from disgraced.
The Bombers headed into the match with 17 players unavailable, 10 of whom are in their best 22, and they also played their 13th debutant of the season Liam McMahon, which is a league record (excluding first-year clubs).
Essendon started strongly defensively with very good pressure and shot out to a healthy 22-15 lead in forward entries in the second quarter and had a big advantage in tackles at half-time (34-23).
But for all their toil, once again, they failed to get rewarded as their first eight scores were all behinds. In fact, Essendon’s next 22 shots on goal after quarter-time last week yielded a diabolical 1.21.
And the Giants made Essendon pay a hefty price by kicking the first eight goals to burst 41 points clear in the second term.
Led by Green, GWS dominated the clearances in the first half and led the stat convincingly 27-13 at the main break, including a dominant 8-2 advantage from centre clearances. At one point, they led the Bombers in scores from stoppages 6.2 (38) to 1.2 (8).
In the first half, GWS booted eight goals from 29 entries (28 per cent) while Essendon could only manage one from 26 (four per cent).
After coughing up the first eight majors, the Bombers managed to stabilise proceedings by splitting the next 14 goals, but the damage was well and truly done before then.
BRIGGS IN HOT WATER
Giants ruckman Kieren Briggs could come under scrutiny from MRO Michael Christian for a heavy tackle on Sam Durham on the wing in the third quarter which saw the Bomber’s head slam heavily into the turf. The star Bomber immediately underwent a concussion test, which he passed, and that might work in Briggs’ favour.
Sam Durham came from the ground after this tackle from Kieren Briggs.
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) July 17, 2025
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STRINGER STEALS SHOW
Stringer produced the highlight of the night in the third quarter when he took a hangover on Jayden Laverde’s shoulder, before giving the defender a cheeky shove in the chest. He completed the play with a snap set shot from close range. In the second term, Stringer broke a couple of tackles in the forward pocket before dishing it off to Max Gruzewski for the easy goal from the goal square. And he followed that up shortly after with a booming set shot from 52m out on a 45-degree angle to put his new team up by 28 points.
RIPPER RICCARDI
Jake Riccardi kicked the goal of the match early in the second quarter when he converted a spectacular banana set shot from 45m out on the boundary early. And later in the term, he was gifted his second major when Essendon backman Lachie Blakiston dropped a simple overhead mark in the GWS goal square and Riccardi mopped up the crumbs.
DEBUTANT DELIGHT
McMahon provided some much-needed cheer for the Bombers at the 25-minute mark of the second period when he booted the Bombers’ first goal and joined the exclusive first-kick-first-goal club in the process. The 23-year-old kicked his team’s first two majors.
SCOREBOARD
ESSENDON 0.5, 1.8, 5.10, 7.14 (56)
GW SYDNEY 2.0, 8.3, 13.5, 16.8 (104)
RONNY LERNER’S BEST
Bombers: Ridley, Merrett, Duursma, McGrath, Clarke.
Giants: Green, Stringer, Callaghan, Riccardi, Himmelberg, Whitfield, Ash.
GOALS
Bombers: McMahon 2, Wright 2, Kako, Perkins, Duursma.
Giants: Stringer 3, Gruzewski 2, Riccardi 2, Brown 2, Greene 2, Cadman, Briggs, Green, O’Halloran, Jones.
UMPIRES Brown, Gianfagna, Wallace, McGinness
20,347 at Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
RONNY LERNER’S VOTES
3 Tom Green (GWS)
2 Jake Stringer (GWS)
1 Finn Callaghan (GWS)
EARLIER: KEY GIANTS SET TO RE-SIGN
– Jon Ralph
Irishman Callum Brown will join Xavier O’Halloran in signing a new deal to remain with the Giants after strong recent progress on a new contract.
And the club’s full back in Jack Buckley has had early talks on an extension to give up his free agency rights at the end of 2026.
The Giants lost a trio of required players last year in James Peatling, Isaac Cumming and Harry Perryman but remain a premiership force as they prudently decide which rival deals to match.
Small forward Darcy Jones and No. 1 overall pick Aaron Cadman have re-signed with the club this year despite having a full season to run on deals.
The Herald Sun recently reported that Leek Aleer was now likely to move to St Kilda at year’s end given the huge discrepancy between his two-year offer and the Saints four-year deal.
But the Giants cannot hope to pay as much as $750,000 for a fourth key defender in another example of how they manage their cap.
Brown, 24, has played 15 games this year as a utility forward and has interest from clubs including Melbourne.
But recent talks have surrounded a deal of at least two seasons and a games-based trigger and potentially a three-year deal.
GWS is confident he will now remain at the club after signing with them in 2018 as a former Irish Gaelic player.
O’Halloran is expected to sign a deal of similar length after rebuffing the Dogs’ continued interest.
Buckley is secured to the end of 206, when he hits restricted free agency.
But he is a key cog in the defensive mix along with fellow talls Sam Taylor, Harry Himmelberg and Connor Idun.
The Giants will be hopeful that Buckley will join Jones, Cadman and Brent Daniels as Giants who pledge their future to the club a full year out from their contracts expiring.
GWS would be desperate for a high draft pick – likely a first rounder – if Aleer finally joins St Kilda at the end of the year given the No. 15 draft pick has a huge future ahead of him.
St Kilda is keen for an answer from Aleer soon so they can plan for his acquisition but the Giants have told his management in recent days they are desperate for him to put all of his focus into this year’s premiership charge.
If he asks for a trade they will consider their options but as the Giants gather steam they are intent on him not being distracted by his future as a player who has been selected for the last eight senior games.
Originally published as Brad Scott’s silver lining after Giant smashing
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