Essendon Senior Coach Brad Scott is adamant that honing in on individual development will be a key for his side to flourish in the second half of the 2023 season and beyond.

Whilst Scott admits the 8-6 start to his tenure has been a big positive, he won’t let immediate results detract him from the goal of longer-term improvement for the playing group.

Scott told Essendon FC that the renewed focus on the players as individuals will continue to benefit their style of play.

“Regardless of whether we were (6-8) or some other combination, it’s more the way that we’ve been going about our footy and the improvement of individual players that I’ve been most impressed with,” Scott said.

“The team strategy stuff is almost the easy bit, it’s (about) having players who can execute the fundamentals and the overall game plan. We prioritise development, and we will continue to do that through the second half of the year.”

Scott and his coaching group have stayed firm on that priority, with the improvement of each player’s individual output listed as a stated objective dating back to the start of the year.

The belief of Scott is that their optimal idea of the gameplan can only come into fruition once he gets the best out of each player’s strengths.

“We analyse (individual improvement) on a weekly basis, and most of our players have improved. There’s an element of subjectivity to that, but I think Essendon supporters would agree that it’s all there to see,” Scott said.

“We’ve had a really huge focus on development and working on individual craft. Our belief is that if we work really hard on that and improve each player, then the sum of all parts will come together and we can start to implement a lot of the strategies that we’re looking to execute on gameday.”

Crossing the halfway point of his first season at the helm, Scott noted the Bombers’ exposure to big games as an invaluable asset to his players in adapting to pressure environments.

With that exposure also comes the support of the Bombers faithful, which Scott was quick to heap praise on.

“Whether it’s 2023 or beyond, the ability to replicate finals for a lot of teams is impossible. We’re really fortunate to play in those big marquee games, that holds us in great stead and it does prepare you well,” Scott said.

“I can’t reinforce enough with our supporters and members what a huge boost it is for our players to have that unbelievable support, whether it’s at Marvel Stadium or the MCG. It’s something that I half-expected, but I didn’t realise it would come with this sort of power and passion.”

The Bombers are looking ahead to critical fixtures in the coming weeks, with the opportunity to test themselves against some of the competition’s most dangerous sides.

Scott maintains that despite how some pundits may judge fixture difficulty, his side will continue to treat every game as a challenge, both this year and beyond.

“A wise person in football once said to me it’s not who you play, it’s when you play them. Teams are in different states of flux (and) that’ll change throughout the second half of the year,” Scott said.

“The fixture is just something on paper that people try and assess the difficulty of, but by my calculations (playing) Port Adelaide off a 16-day break, into Adelaide, into Geelong, into the Bulldogs doesn’t seem too easy to me.”

The Bombers are averaging a crowd of more than 77,000 at their MCG matches this season, with another huge clash against the Power to come this Saturday night.

Amidst the growing excitement around the potential of its young core, Scott is urging the fans to stick with the Bombers for the times ahead.

“We’re embracing the excitement of our supporter group, but we’d also say to our members, stick with us on the journey that we articulated back in October,” Scott said.

“We’re setting a really great platform for the future, and while we’d love to finish off 2023 really well, I’m equally as excited about what’s to come beyond that.”