Former AFL assistant coach Craig Jennings says Essendon need to improve their matchday coaching strategies, branding their current tactics as “arrogant”.
Jennings, described as “one of the best minds in footy” by ex-Melbourne skipper Nathan Jones, told Gerard Whateley that the Bombers need to be more adaptable to different scenarios.
“They’re on record saying they don’t train close game scenarios, they just want to play the same way from start to finish but I find that a flawed concept,” he said on SEN's Whateley.
“If you’re one point up with 30 seconds on the clock and they go back to that fast type, Richmond style that they were playing earlier this season and coming out of the back half – you don’t want to play like that.
“It feels a little bit arrogant to me.”
Jennings said the Essendon coaching box needs to be “strategically astute” and learn more from opposition sides.
“They’ve got to get things right in terms of their coaching group and be far more strategic in the way they apply themselves on matchday,” he said.
“Just because you’re a big club doesn’t mean that you automatically win finals or have got the right to win finals.
“They play in all the big games from the day they walk into the footy club and I just think it’s got to mean a bit more to them.”
Essendon’s last victory came in Round 8 in the form of a three-point result over the winless Adelaide Crows.
The Bombers take on Richmond at TIO Stadium in Darwin for the 2020 Dreamtime clash on Saturday night.
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