Durham’s talents a secret no longer
Essendon coach Brad Scott has lauded the ability of unheralded matchwinner Sam Durham and says there are more players like him who could flourish at an AFL club.
Durham stood tall to mark at the top of the goalsquare and put Essendon ahead in the final minute of just his 37th game, causing Scott to lament that the talent of the 2021 midseason draftee was no longer a Bombers secret.
The 21-year-old was one of his side’s best with two goals and 21 disposals, and is rated elite among midfielders this season for marks and kicking efficiency. Scott said Durham was an example of how the competition’s talent depth will not suffer when the Tasmanian side joins the league.
“People who say that a Tasmanian team coming in, the talent pool’s not deep enough, all that sort of stuff – there are plenty of good players around the country, it’s just a matter of them being identified and developed well,” Scott said.
“Sam’s got all the attributes of a really, really good player, and to the credit of our development coaches they’ve worked really strongly with him.
“He showed really good signs last year, but he’s taken his game to another level. We were trying to keep him under wraps, but now the wraps are unfortunately off – everyone knows who he is now.”
Scott said the win was important for the players’ belief in his plan for them after a frustrating run of four losses including nail biters against Collingwood and Port Adelaide.
“There’s only so long you can keep talking about effort and playing well,” he said.
“Coaches don’t like to talk about the result, because it’s the process and system you put in place to get the result, but it becomes hard to keep pushing a message when you’re not getting a result.”
He said the midfielders would gain belief from their resilient effort without the trio of Darcy Parish, Will Setterfield and Dylan Shiel, while he praised Zach Merrett for his leadership as he collected the Yiooken Trophy for best afield.
Scott said Shiel had withdrawn from the match due to a corked calf.