Essendon laments “mismatched” system as midfielder is forced to wait

Essendon coach Brad Scott is the latest to voice his displeasure surrounding the "mismatched" system between the AFL and the second-tier competitions.

The Bombers were excited to welcome back midfielder Darcy Parish to football after ongoing soft-tissue setbacks, but his VFL return has been pushed back another week due to the club's bye.

Scott flagged the inconsistencies between the top-flight league and its subsidiaries as a challenge to navigate.

"The structure we have at the moment (is a challenge to navigate)," Scott said.

"The byes, the mismatch in terms of fixturing. The VFL has a five-day break, the AFL has a seven-day break. We're trying to manage all of that in an imperfect system.

"There was a piece of work done on that, but I'm not sure where it's at. I think we need to look at it because it's really unfair, and unlucky, that players get compromised due to a different structure."

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon ripped into the "broken system" when draftee Alix Tauru was suspended for four matches following a bump in the VFL.

Due to the byes in the reserves, Tauru would have been unavailable for six AFL games, which prompted the league to correct the contradiction.

Areas of code-wide improvement, in the eyes of Scott, don't stop there.

The speculation around the viability of Mid-Season trading will always be in vogue until it's introduced, according to the Bombers coach, as we lead into the in-season draft set for the end of May.

The Bombers could have up to four available list spots due to the season-ending injuries to Sam Draper, Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards.

SEE MORE: The clubs with picks for the AFL Mid-Season Draft and the prospects they could target

But Scott, who is currently battling a depleted list that sees the quartet of key position players unavailable for the remainder of 2025, said that these player acquisition mechanisms aren't always beneficial for the greater good, touching on the ripple effect on the lower league.

"My mind immediately goes to the flow-on effect of second-tier competitions, and it's something we need to be cognisant of," Scott said.

"We're in a situation where we have a number of spots on our list to be available, but if three or four clubs had that situation, you can pretty easily decimate a second-tier team.

"It doesn't (affect the AFL), but it does the second-tier, and I think we always got to be aware of those dominoes as they fall.

"Things like the mid-season draft, mid-season trading will always be a discussion until it comes in.

"The more we talk about how this can work for all competitions, I think the better."