ESSENDON utility Kyle Langford has said the Bombers will enter 2023 armed with a new game plan under Brad Scott.<\/p>\n
With Scott joining the club in the off-season after the sacking of Ben Rutten, Langford said the former North Melbourne coach has come to The Hangar with his own ideas and hopes to rectify issues the team showed in 2022.<\/p>\n
While Langford doesn\u2019t believe the changes have been drastic, he said Scott\u2019s focus on improvement and development has been great as the side hit the ground running under his tutelage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Brad has come in with his own kind of ideas,\u201d Langford told SEN Afternoons.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s definitely had a look at how we played over the last three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not changing a hell of a lot, but we are tinkering with things both in defence and offence just to make it more efficient for players and scoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been a drastic change and he\u2019s been really good at utilising all of the resources around him in assistant coaches and development coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just putting in a program that focuses on improvement and development and creating a good culture around that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been great to have a fresh voice and some fresh eyes on everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve hit the ground running from day-dot in November, so it\u2019s been pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
One area in particular where Essendon struggled as they finished 15th last season was their transition defence.<\/p>\n
With teams often slingshotting the ball from defence to attack against the Bombers and creating scoring opportunities, Langford said Scott has implemented a method to try and stop such scenarios from playing out this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a big focus on hard work and a team-first mentality,\u201d Langford said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is different and we\u2019ve taken some time to adjust, we had our first match play hit out last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think fitness was an issue, but the way we defended probably didn\u2019t help us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t reserve much energy for the last parts of quarters or the ends of games and I think the way we\u2019re going to play and defend will hopefully be a front-half turnover game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to keep it nice and compact and turn it over as close to our goal as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll help us get through games and the boys are flying – as every team is – but we\u2019re just really excited to get into games and start implementing this stuff against the opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott\u2019s first official game in charge of the Bombers comes in round one when Essendon face Hawthorn at the MCG on 19 March.<\/p>\n