Scott heaps praise on new skipper while vowing to support his predecessor

Essendon coach Brad Scott has been glowing in his assessment of his new look leadership group, with a particular focus on first year skipper, Andy McGrath.

The Bombers are looking to put an off-season of turmoil behind them, with a first-up clash against their fiercest rival, and the reason for said turmoil, this Friday night, the final hurdle.

These are two clubs that have not liked each other for generations, and the semi-recent attempts made by the Hawks to lure former Bombers skipper Zach Merrett to Dingley will only fuel what is a traditionally volatile clash.

Forecasting has this Friday the 13th clash between Essendon and Hawthorn as one of the highest attended between the two clubs in years, and Brad Scott refuses to shy away from the magnitude of the occasion.

"There might be an extra 10-15,000 people there. I don't want to talk it down," Scott said.

"I've said before publicly, my football childhood was framed around Hawthorn Essendon games. I grew up watching those games as my foundation of the game. I still remember them. So there's no point talking them down, I prefer to talk them up.  I think it's fantastic that we get to play in these games. The rivalry is real, there's no doubt, certainly from our perspective."

When pressed as to whether or not Merrett's attempted defection adds to the occasion, Scott was similarly forthright.

"Does it add spice? Probably. But what do we do as professionals? The boring stuff. We focus on the controllables, the things that we can execute."

"I've seen some strong, resilient characters in my time in footy; Zach Merrett's at the very top echelon in terms of guys who have resilience. My job as coach is to support him, but with those guys, my experience tells me to get out of his way and let him do his thing."

When the deal to trade the Bombers sash for the Hawks stripes fell through, Merrett made his way back to the club of his drafting, and felt relinquishing his leadership was the right thing to do. His former deputy, Andy McGrath, was promoted to top Don, and Scott couldn't speak any higher of the half-back flanker.

"I've been here three of four years now and I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong with him. Everyone's got their deficiencies, I just haven't found his yet," he said, when referencing the Canadian-born 27-year-old.

"We moved really quickly to formulate our leadership group. We wanted that done before Christmas. While it is new, and it's his (McGrath's) first game (as skipper), it's not as if it was only announced last week. Our leadership group is quite different; you've got guys like Brayden Fiorini who's come in and made a real impact, Jye Caldwell, Sam Durham are welcome additions in that leadership structure. So Andy's really well supported; it's different, there's no doubt about that, but it's not a massive change," Scott continued.

So far removed from the saga are the Bombers, that it has recently come to light that Jye Caldwell cheekily purchased Merrett a signed Hawthorn guernsey as a secret Santa present, and Scott found that amusing, while taking the chance to pinpoint just how far the events of October are in the side's collective rear vision mirror.

"I liked it. If i thought of it, it would've been even funnier, I reckon. I think it probably speaks to the fact that it's a big deal to everyone, I get it, and they're fair questions. We moved on a long time ago and now we're at the stage where we're making jokes about it.”

Hawthorn have already played their first match of the season, turning in a disappointing performance against an undermanned GWS outfit in Opening Round. Scott refused to buy into the notion that Hawthorn are at an advantage, having already experienced the ruthlessness of AFL competition this season, in aid of exposing northern audiences to the code.

"I understand the significance of Opening Round for the northern states. We tend to do a lot for the northern states at the moment, it's just the environment we're in, but that is a lot of the growth of the game. I think the opportunity to play in New South Wales and Queensland, and have the AFL pretty much dominate that region is a positive. I don't really have strong views, we're fresh, we're prepared."

Essendon and Hawthorn will meet under Friday night lights at the MCG.