AXE FALLS AT ESSENDON: NEELD FIRST TO GO IN COACHING CULL

THE cull at Essendon has begun and it’s unlikely to stop at Mark Neeld.

Neeld was sacked yesterday as game performance coach — he was effectively coach John Worsfold’s No.1 lieutenant.

He was sacked because he was chief strategist and the Bombers struggled to follow any consistent strategy.

It is disappointing for Neeld, but it was a bold and right call from the Bombers.

They are 2-6 after eight rounds and the laughing stock of the competition. Something had to give. Sacked as Melbourne coach before finding redemption at Essendon, Neeld would feel dreadfully aggrieved, possibly believing he was the scapegoat for several lacklustre performances this year.

After all, the buck always stops at the senior coach.

Worsfold’s position is also not assured.

Contracted for a further two years after this one, Worsfold has 14 games to persuade the decision-makers at Essendon he is the coach to lead the build to the next premiership.

It’s possible he has only four games. The Dons play Geelong, Greater Western Sydney, Richmond and Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

Four losses would make it 2-10 and if the Bombers are prepared hold Neeld account- able for his performance, they should also hold Worsfold accountable for his.

Yesterday’s decisive decision gives us a clear understanding the club doesn’t have full confidence in Worsfold.

Worsfold is respected but his employers, led by head of football Dan Richardson and chief executive Xavier Campbell, believe he needs coaching assistance. It’s why they sacked Neeld and will look at replacements at the end of the season.

Already, football analyst Craig Jennings, who previously worked at Essendon and is now at Melbourne, has been mentioned as a person of interest, not in a criminal way of course.

Considered left-thinking for his ideas, Jennings’ knowledge of the game is said to be elite. So much so, there’s also been a debate about whether he could be a senior coach.

The Bombers are in disarray on the field and fractured off it. There was a feeling at the club that Neeld, Worsfold and Rob Harding, the game intelligence and opposition strategy coach, had circled the wagons in terms of team strategy and that the line coaches had been somewhat shut out.

Neeld won’t be replaced at present. Instead the line coaches will be welcomed to contribute. The Bombers last night described the assistants as “being more empowered in their roles’’.