Former Essendon midfielder Adam Cooney has indicated Bombers coach John Worsfold must forge a stronger relationship with his players in order to get the best out of them.
Worsfold has come under heavy criticism for his game style as his side’s finals hopes continue to slip away having won just two of their first seven games.
However, it’s the communication aspect that the 2006 premiership winning coach needs to address to extract a positive reaction from the playing group.
“I spent a year with Woosha and he is a great coach in terms of man management,” Cooney told SEN Afternoons.
“But I just found, and what’s obviously not working at the moment, is that you need to have a really close relationship with your players – and the best coaches do.
“Alastair Clarkson hits players between the eyes but when you listen to the Hawthorn players, he has invested a lot of time into them personally.
“When he does that he gets a response because the players like him and respect him.
“I just think Woosha definitely needs to invest more time into the players one-on-one.
“Sometimes you wouldn’t have a meeting with your senior coach. You need to have at least one meeting with every player if you’re a senior coach every week.
“The main person you listen to is your coach before anyone else.
“You crave that feedback and you want to know where you’re at with the coach. Woosha needs to spend more time in developing those relationships one-on-one with those players.”
Essendon will be looking to get their season back on track when they take on struggling Carlton at the MCG tomorrow.
Worsfold is contracted to the Bombers until 2020.
Listen to Adam Cooney's chat with Andy Maher on SEN Afternoons in the player below