Essendon star Andrew McGrath has opened up on the honest review between the team’s players and coaching staff this week ahead of a pivotal Anzac Day clash.
The Bombers head into the Anzac Day match against Collingwood with an unenviable 1-4 record after a dispiriting 48-point loss at home to Fremantle in round five.
McGrath, the team’s deputy vice-captain, faced up to hard questions from Essendon great Matthew Lloyd who said the current playing group “lack honesty”.
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“That’s a strong thing to say about a team,” Lloyd told McGrath on 3AW’s Sportsday.
“You lack honesty as a midfield and I think it’s a hard thing to turn around. What isn’t going to be tolerated that you have in the first five rounds? Because as I said, lacking honesty gets you nowhere, and that’s where I feel your midfield, in particular, does lack as a group.”
McGrath responded by admitting that he and the club’s other experienced players needed to stand up and lead by example.
“The conversations that we’ve had have been as open as they have been in my time at the footy club,” he said of the team’s review, which was led by Bombers coach, Ben Rutten.
“We’re really getting into the ‘why’ and why things are happening out there. It’s easy to see what’s happening and comment on what we’re doing wrong, but we’re not trying to do the wrong things. So it’s about figuring out why each individual isn’t doing their role to the best of their ability.
“From a midfield point of view, a lot of our senior players are in there, so we need to stand up and take responsibility for what’s going on out on the field. We’re taking it personally.
“Myself, Darcy (Parish), Dylan Shiel are all in there, which are all senior leaders of our football club, and we need to stand up and lead by example and show the younger players what the Essendon way is.”
Lloyd also questioned McGrath over whether he and his teammates had been overcoached, admitting that it was something that he’d dealt with at times throughout his career, but McGrath rejected the notion.
“I’ve been embarrassed, Andy, with some of my efforts, so we’ve all been there before,” Lloyd told McGrath.
“At times I was paralysed in what I was wanting to do because of what I was being asked to do.
“Were you honest with the coaches as well about potentially freeing yourselves up a bit more or being over-coached at times?”
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“Our coaches have been completely transparent with us. It’s very two-way the communication at our club at the moment,” McGrath responded.
“Coaches are open to our input, they’re really important to knowing what we’re thinking and feeling out there and are open to our feedback and our suggestions. I don’t feel like we’re being over-coached at all.
“I think things can often get magnified when things aren’t going very well and things can easily be glossed over when you are going well.
“There’s a lot of areas in our game that aren’t going well and it’s probably easy to pinpoint certain things and throw the blame at certain parts of our game and try and figure out why, but at the end of the day, we’ve just got to do our job out there.
“The structure and game plan is a template, but we actually have to play, compete, and execute out there.”
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