Footy club breaks silence amid claims star is on a media BAN after ‘disrespectful’ comments about rival

Essendon coach Brad Scott says Sam Draper couldn’t have reacted better to his recent dressing down as the ruckman appears to have no guarantee of returning from injury against GWS.

Scott also dismissed reports that a media ban had been imposed on the charismatic ruckman after he sparked anger over comments about Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge on a podcast.

While imitating a journalist as part of a fun role-play, Draper said some Dogs players would ask for a trade at the end of the season if Beveridge remains as coach.

Beveridge described the comments as ‘bizarre’ while Bombers counterpart Scott said they were ‘disrespectful’ and told Draper he was ‘really disappointed’ in him.

Asked how the 25-year-old Draper had responded to his criticism, a grinning Scott said: “He’s like a gun.

The charismatic 25-year-old was in the spotlight for comments made on a podcast

‘I love Sam, I enjoy working with him. This is the opportunity I see as a coach of young men: you make a mistake and you learn from it, you acknowledge a mistake and move on.

‘I even had a briefing that we have imposed a media ban on Sam, but not a media ban on Sam Draper.

“I mean, that would be a disservice to our fans and all those little kids running around wearing mullets with No. 2 on their Essendon jersey. We want Sam to be publicly in the media and represent our club.

“He had a misstep, he learned from it, we put an end to it, we dealt with it as a club and as a team and now ‘Drapes’ wants to move on more than anyone.”

After missing last week’s win over West Coast with a knee injury, Scott said Draper’s selection depended on how he got through training.

Draper had his leg taped up and looked good early in Wednesday’s practice.

“That’s definitely our intention, to get him out and train him and hopefully he feels really good,” Scott said.

But Bombers coach Brad Scott says Draper handled the fallout like a champ

But again, we need him to be very close to 100 percent before we play him.

‘The problem is the knee, the previous (hip) operation he had last year is not the problem that prevents him from playing.

‘He has, we hope, a relatively minor knee problem, but it does hurt a bit. And when he trains well, he plays. But if he’s not close to 100 percent, he won’t do that.”

Jye Caldwell has been training and is expected to face his former club at Marvel Stadium on Saturday despite being substituted from the West Coast match due to a tight calf.

Young defender Zach Reid (hamstring) could return via the VFL.