Essendon star Mason Redman has admitted that he would’ve left the club last year if he was out of contract, crediting new coach Brad Scott for turning the Bombers’ culture around for the better.
Redman, who only 12 months ago was considering a trade back to his home state, South Australia, turned his back on overtures from the Crows to sign a five-year extension that will see him remain an Essendon player through 2028.
”I feel as though Brad is the best senior coach I’ve had, albeit for 10 months … I do think he will be the next Essendon premiership coach. Hopefully we can prove that to him as a playing group,” Redman said on SEN.
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The 25-year-old admitted that he wasn’t always this committed to remaining a Bomber, with the end of the 2022 season his near-breaking point.
“I feel as though there were too many people pulling in different directions. Definitely towards the back-end of last year I felt that,” he said.
The defender, who has helped the Bombers to nine wins so far in 2023, said Scott’s coaching prowess has helped him to reach his potential and allowed the club to flourish.
Redman also expressed his excitement of remaining at the Bombers, with the club a “very different place” than when he first walked through the doors.
“Probably at the start of your career as a young guy you’re just in and trying to play football, you’re trying to break in and you don’t realise that the inner or outer workings of the club actually affect the team’s performance,” he said.
“You don’t know what you don’t know.”
“The club’s in a very different place than what it was last year. And lucky I wasn’t in a position to make a decision last year and I’m glad that I wasn’t because the direction the club’s going now is something that I really believe in.
The 11th-placed Bombers host the 12th-placed Swans on Saturday night at Marvel Stadium, in a must-win match to keep their finals hopes alive.
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