Incoming Essendon coach Brad Scott has flagged a potential positional move for gun Bomber Andrew McGrath in 2023, indicating that the 24-year-old could find himself playing at half-back next season.
McGrath, who was selected by the Bombers with Pick 1 in the 2016 National Draft, excelled at half-back in his first AFL season, earning the AFLPA best first-year player award, alongside the AFL Rising Star award in his debut campaign.
The young gun had since found himself spending more minutes in the midfield under former Essendon coach Ben Rutten, playing 18 games in the 2022 season, averaging 21.4 disposals, 2.6 tackles and 2.3 clearances.
Speaking to AFL.com.au, Scott said that he was hesitant to put players in positions that suit "team needs", rather preferring to place them into their best-suited role.
"I think there's a tendency in our industry … if you look at the All-Australian side, which I was part of selecting this year, you tend to gravitate to the key-position players and then the superstars who are midfielders," Scott said.
"I think we tend to push the really good players, who are Andy's size, into the midfield. If they're really good players, that's where they should play. But an analogy I'd use from where I'd been previously at Collingwood a long time ago, Heath Shaw was an All-Australian half-back and every year there would be this push from fans and the club to get him into the midfield.
"The best thing for Heath was us realising he's an All-Australian half-back and that's his best position.
"I'm big on trying to get players into the role that suits them best, not trying to push them into a role that the team needs."
Scott was announced as Essendon's new coach in September, having previously held the top job at North Melbourne for ten seasons from 2010-2019. The 46-year-old departed the Kangaroos with a 106-105 win-loss record, and is now keen to get stuck into work at the Bombers as players return to training.
Essendon's young list profile, ranked 16th in the competition heading into 2023 with an average age of 23.85, has left Scott with plenty of brainstorming to do heading into the new year.
"There are some players that I can't fit into a category. You look at your key forwards, your key backs, your midfield types. There are some players who, quite frankly, I just don't know where they're going to play at the moment. That's a positive," Scott said.
"There are a lot of players where their greatest strength is their versatility. There's risk in that, because we don't want to throw them around all over the place, but where I thought there might have been some gaps there are certainly some players that can fill those gaps if they continue to work and continue to develop.
"Some of the young talent still needs time. Some of the guys that are really impressive, they still look like young boys. That's been pretty stark, coming back in (to coaching). You meet some of these players in the flesh for the first time and you realise they're 19 or 20 years of age and have got a bit of development to do."
