Former Essendon captain and Team Of The Century member, Tim Watson, claims Bombers coach Brad Scott threw a lot of his players under the bus when he made those surprising comments at his post-game press conference, following the club's 63-point thumping against Port Adelaide on Sunday.
A candid Scott felt some players showed a lack of desire to defend and conceded his side is "demoralised" after 15 consecutive losses, including two heavy defeats to start 2026.
Speaking on SEN Breakfast on Tuesday morning, Watson who played 307 games for the Bombers and was captain between 1989-1991, said Scott's admission has intensified the heat on the Bombers.
"Maybe Brad Scott was a genius. Maybe his intention was to put the microscope firmly on the football club when he went and spoke post-game and used the word demoralising, because it certainly has inflamed the conversation around Essendon. It has added to what people already saw by the way that the coach spoke," Watson said.
"I think he threw a lot of the team under the bus, by what he had to say. It was almost like he was disassociating himself with what he'd seen and the players and himself and what they're trying to do, you know about the selfishness and their lack of desire to want to compete, that's what he was saying post-game.
"And to pick out the no.1 kid (Nate Caddy) that probably played out there, and to embarrass and humiliate him publicly too about how demoralising it was that he missed that goal, I just don't think that that was a clever way to go about it."
Watson's comments come a day after Bombers defender Mason Redman's scathing assessment of his club's early season form.
"We just have to keep working hard," Redman said.
"I feel like we put in a good pre-season.
"The last two weeks have been pretty crap, to be honest
"We still have to keep the vibes up around the club, for sure
"It's a long season and stuff can change
"We've been going really well at this time of the year, in the past, and stuff changes. It can definitely change the other way, so we'll be keeping our head down and getting to work."
It comes amid reports Dons captain Andrew McGrath summoned his players to a candid post-game meeting in the Adelaide Oval change rooms, following the 63-point thumping from the Power.
McGrath requested that everyone except the 23 players leave the room, as the doors were closed and a range of frustrations were aired.
