Yesterday, Justin Leppitsch was sacked as senior coach by the Brisbane Lions. North Melbourne should do likewise with his premiership teammate Brad Scott.

Scott is about to finish his seventh season at the helm of the Kangaroos, and what exactly has he done? ‘Nothing’ would be the kindest and most accurate description.

In this time, North has held the following ladder positions, in chronological order – ninth, ninth, eighth, tenth, sixth, eighth, eighth. In seven years, Scott has lifted his club one place on the ladder, with no hint of contending and even less of a rebuild. It is staggering in its mediocrity. Not many will be prepared to think he can do any better in 2017.

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Some will point to two preliminary finals, in 2014 and 2015, as evidence of some form of success. And they are a form of success. But the Roos were not serious contenders in those years. And 22 rounds of football are a more accurate indication of a season than a couple of finals wins in fortuitous circumstances.

Very few eighth placed teams get to embark on a finals campaign by resting most of their best 22 the week before, safe in the knowledge that by doing so they could lock in a home-state final, as the Roos did in Round 23 last year.

Where exactly is the evidence that Brad Scott is a good coach, to counter seven years of nothingness as a prime argument for the opposite?(Click to Tweet)

Development gets a cross.

Scott has overseen five Rising Star nominees in his time, and only three in the last six years. For a side that has finished higher than eighth only once, that can’t make for good reading.

Of those five, one of them was already on the list when Scott came along (Sam Wright), and one was a high profile top ten father-son pick (Luke McDonald) who a bottle of tomato sauce could have coached to a nomination.



The other nominations are Ryan Bastinac, who is no longer at the club and never made it beyond the fringes, Aaron Mullett (35 games in the last three seasons), and first year player Ryan Clarke.

Last week, the AFL Players Association named a squad of 50 players aged 22 or under that are considered the best young players in the league. North Melbourne didn’t have a single representative in this group.

North Melbourne’s best players in Brad Scott’s time, fall into three categories – those he inherited (Todd Goldstein, Brent Harvey, Daniel Wells, Andrew Swallow, Scott Thompson, Drew Petrie, Lindsay Thomas, Michael Firrito), high draft picks that would have succeeded at any club (Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington, Robbie Tarrant, Luke McDonald), and older players poached from elsewhere (Nick Dal Santo, Jarrad Waite, Shaun Higgins).

There has been the odd win, like Ben Brown, and maybe Jamie Macmillan. Sam Gibson is a jobber who gets more of the ball than when he started because the opposition don’t care about him. Shaun Atley was a bright prospect who has become a jobber.

Has Brad Scott revitalised a career and his team with a bold move or positional change, or something out of the ordinary?

Think of Malcolm Blight putting Gary Ablett to permanent full-forward at Geelong or Andrew McLeod to half-back at Adelaide. Think of Paul Roos moving Leo Barry to full-back at Sydney or making Max Gawn the number one ruckman in the competition at Melbourne.

Brad’s brother, Chris, has pulled off the extraordinary turning Mark Blicavs into an AFL footballer and best and fairest winner at Geelong. Alastair Clarkson reinvents the career of his players by the year, broadening their skillset and changing the dynamics of his team. Adam Simpson has turned Jeremy McGovern from WAFL forward and ruckman to warm favourite for All-Australian full-back.

Brad Scott has often shown a lack of class and dignity post-defeat, whether that is through complaining about the Etihad roof being open or launching a scathing and ill-informed attack on umpires for their adjudication of Lindsay Thomas.



39 new players have represented North Melbourne in Brad Scott’s time at the helm, including both draftees and recycled. In that same period, Sydney has blooded 49 and Hawthorn 48. Rebuilding clubs like Melbourne, Richmond and the Bulldogs have had 59, 58 and 57 respectively.

North has been trapped neither contending nor regenerating. Again, just a whole lot of nothing.

Brad Scott has often talked a tough game after a disappointing loss, only for the freshest faces to get dropped once again.

The treatment of Brent Harvey in the last two season has been nothing short of disrespectful. First there was the refusal to deny that he wouldn’t be the sub in his 400th game. Then a drawn out process before almost begrudgingly offering him a contract for 2016.

The final cut has been the deepest, with Harvey told he would not be at the club in 2017, despite ranking top five at the club for disposals this season, as well as top three in goals, goal assists and inside 50’s as one of the most dangerous small forwards in the game.

At least the decisions to de-list Harvey, along with Petrie, Firrito and Dal Santo suggests a firm direction. It remains to be seen which other players of the older brigade are shown the door. Scott Thompson has a year to run on his contract, but would be well advised to put his name up for trade now, as he will surely not be renewed beyond 2017.

Brad Scott’s coaching career basically amounts to finishing in the same mid-table spot on the ladder seven years in a row, slapping the face of a club legend a few times, complaining about things beyond his control, and overseeing a list build that has hidden in plain sight his lack of development skills.

Justin Leppitsch produced nothing in three years, and his fate was sealed.



Brad Scott has had seven.