"They have reignited my passion for the football club." - Scotty Watters - Monday Expert Breaks Down Grand Final - 28.09.2026

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SPEAKER_2 (0:24)

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Scotty Watters (0:38)

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Mark Duffield (0:59)

Now, let's talk to our expert in residence, Scotty Watters. Of course, former coach at St Kilda, Premiership coach at Subiaco, and a player at the Dockers, the Eagles, and the Sydney Swans. He joins us on the show now. Scotty, welcome.

Scotty Watters (1:14)

G'day, Duff. How are you?

Mark Duffield (1:16)

I've been better, as Ben has, that I've just been talking to on the phone. But no, mate, it was a great weekend. It was just a shame for Freemantle people about the last four minutes of the game when Brisbane were truly great. And Freemantle, I think, will acknowledge that they got a few things wrong. What were your thoughts? How do you dissect it?

Scotty Watters (1:39)

Well, probably like most people. And, you know, look, I'm a Freemantle person. I grew up in Freemantle, and I'm proud of that.

So like most people, probably still processing it to a degree. They did so much right and without repeating and going over old ground. But, you know, 25% of Brisbane's total score was kicked in the last four minutes. You know, so there's just so many ways to look at this and feel like it's unjust. And that's why we love the triumph and the tragedy of sport. It's not always fair. It doesn't promise to be. It's hard. It's brutal. The AFL is one of the toughest competitions in the world. And we've witnessed that first hand. You know, I'm invested as a past player and a freeman or person.

But the players and the current coaching staff are the most invested. When you're inside the four walls, you get to ride the highs and you get to feel the lows more than anyone. So I feel for them. But adversity is a gift if you want it to be, Duff. And it's really up to them where they take it. I have no guarantees on that. Twenty-nine teams have lost by less than ten points, and only five have made it to back the next year and win. So it's tough, it's hard.

But destiny is still within their hands, and it's going to be shaped on what they do now.

Mark Duffield (3:13)

Now, obviously, Paddy Vos takes the mark in the goal square. He kicks the goal to put some 17 points up, and then they activate warfy time. Do you believe that was a factor?

Scotty Watters (3:25)

Ah, there's multiple. When you go looking for a smoking gun, you can find it anywhere. And they're in reality, there's five, six, seven, eight, nine things that all contribute. Warfy time, I definitely think there's a marketing discussion that needs to go on about when is the right time to do it, if they choose to do it going forward. Is that the reason that they lost? No. Pierce's injury is a reason. Conversion, I mean, we kicked 6'10, in the second half of foot, you hit 8'5, composure and conversion. You know, Tracy's missed. Why did he try and kick a torpedo? You look at the way he actually drops that ball onto his foot. That's a decision that he will have to live with and get better from.

But ultimately, the biggest of all of them for me is what Ashcroft's influence in the last four minutes. You know, he was kept to 12 possessions in the first half. He's had 19 in the second half, 12 in the last quarter. And if you have a really close look, the first centre bounce is opposed to Sirong. Sirong's a ball getter and a ball winner. Brayshaw is the defensive mid. Now, that happens once and the ball gets taken out. But then the next stoppages, we still didn't see a close down of space on Ashcroft, and he was allowed to just leave the front side of the stoppage. So that's one that they're going to look at the tape and it's going to hurt them.