Feeling Powerless: Brad Scott Left in the Dark Over ‘Frustrating’ Anzac Day Power Outage

The coaching staffs of Essendon and Collingwood found themselves at a complete loss, quite literally, when a blackout in their respective coaches’ boxes hindered their ability to communicate with the bench.

Brad Scott revealed that the Bombers’ coaches box remained in darkness for the majority of the third quarter during the highly anticipated Anzac Day clash, while Collingwood’s box faced a brief disruption.

Ultimately, the effect felt negligible, as the Magpies surged ahead in the latter stages, demonstrating their superiority throughout the match, despite the contest being level at halftime.

In a rare move breaking integrity protocols, both clubs were granted unusual access to their mobile phones to facilitate communication.

Scott expressed how the outage left him feeling quite powerless.

“It felt like we were back in the dark ages; we had to rely on our mobile phones,” he remarked.

“It was incredibly frustrating. I felt as helpless as I ever have in a quarter of footy when we’re unable to communicate with the bench.

“Every time I tried to head down to the bench, they kept telling me, ‘it’s back on,’ but then it would go off again, so we couldn’t figure out what was happening.”

Meanwhile, Craig McRae, buoyed after the Magpies’ 41-point win, felt at ease with entrusting his veteran players to handle the situation.

“I told our coaches to remain calm. When you have a team that’s performing well, sometimes it’s best to just let them do their thing,” McRae stated.

“The legendary Leigh Matthews once advised me on this. When a snowball gathers momentum rolling downhill, sometimes the best course is to step aside.

“I have complete faith in these guys. They know how to respond in the moment. When the outage occurred, I simply said, ‘stay relaxed, we’re all good. Just let the players take the reins.’

During the third quarter, Collingwood scored five goals to Essendon’s three, showcasing their veteran leadership’s ability to maintain composure amidst the loss of communication and data.