No media ban on Draper, says Bombers coach

Essendon coach Brad Scott is adamant the club has not ordered Sam Draper to step away from his podcast after the ruckman was disciplined last week for his jab at a rival coach.

Draper, who is no guarantee to face GWS on Saturday as he battles a knee issue, would continue to be encouraged to have a strong public presence, according to his coach.

It comes despite Scott saying he was “really disappointed” by Draper’s comments about the future of Luke Beveridge on his 200 Plus podcast that the Bulldogs coach said were “bizarre” coming from a player from another club.

The Bombers coach denied the club had intervened to suspend Draper from the podcast, which is co-hosted by North Melbourne player Charlie Comben and sports journalist Nick Butler.

“We haven’t put a media ban on Sam Draper – that would be doing a disservice to our fans and to all those little kids running around with mullets with No.2 on their Essendon jumpers,” Scott said.

“We want Sam out in the media and in public representing our club. He had a misstep, he learnt from it, we put a full stop on it … now Drapes, more than anyone, wants to move on.

“I want him to be involved in media, podcasts, representing the club in the right way, and I think all our fans want to hear from Sam Draper. We’re certainly not putting a media ban on him.”

Scott said Draper had responded to the incident “like the gun he is” but was still battling a knee issue and in doubt to face the Giants at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

While the coach was confident Jye Caldwell would play after avoiding damage to his calf during the win over the Eagles, he was less sure of Draper’s availability.

“It will depend mostly on the session (on Wednesday) and how he trains. Hopefully, he feels really good, but we need him to be very close to 100 per cent before we play him,” he said.

“It’s the knee that’s the issue, the previous (groin) surgery he had last year – that’s not the issue that’s keeping him out of playing.

“If he trains well he’ll play, but if he’s not close to 100 per cent he won’t.”

Scott said the Bombers had “learnt their lessons” from the 126-point drubbing at the hands of the Giants in round 23 last year but had spent little time reviewing that clash in the lead-up after it was combed over in fine detail over the off-season.

“We probably reflected on that (game) at the end of last year more than this year, and we think we’ve improved a lot, but time will tell. We’ve had a number of really good tests this year, and this is arguably our biggest,” he said.

Key defender Zach Reid was set to play in the VFL on Saturday if he pulled up well from training following seven weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

“That’ll be a big boost for our group … to get (Reid) back playing footy at any level will be a big milestone for us,” Scott said.

“I think (a block of games in the VFL) is more likely … we’re going to have to resist that urge I suspect to bring him back quickly.

“We just want him to get out and play with freedom, and for the first time in a long time, not be concerned about his body.”