Essendon coach Brad Scott says Kyle Langford addressed his teammates in the rooms directly after missing a crucial set shot in the Bombers' thrilling Anzac Day draw against Collingwood.
The gun forward had an opportunity to win the match for Essendon when he marked about 30m out with the Bombers behind by a point in the dying stages.
Langford probably would have been awarded the Anzac Day Medal had he slotted his fifth goal - and third of the frantic final term - of Thursday's match at the MCG.
But under the immense pressure of 93,644 screaming fans watching on, the 27-year-old hooked his kick to the right to tie the game at 12.13 (85) each.
Langford spoke in front of players and coaches post-game, saying he followed through with his normal set-shot routine.
"It was a great opportunity for me as coach," Scott said.
"He's got an incredibly consistent routine that he just drills, week in, week out.
"That's all we're asking you to do.
"You follow your process, your routine and you try to execute.
"This game is not a game of perfect and you're going to to miss some, but the mistakes that we get really frustrated by are when we go away from our system or what we train.
"If he'd gone away from his process, then there'd be an issue. But he didn't.
"If I'm going to stick true to talking to the players about what we value, that's action and we're not going to hang guys out to dry."
In a home-and-away classic, it wasn't just Langford who would be thinking about what might have been.
After Langford's miss, Collingwood were able to stream the ball up the other end of the ground.
Magpies forward Jamie Elliott spilled a diving mark near the boundary about 50m out from Collingwood's goal.
Elliott famously sank Essendon with an after-the-siren goal up the other end of the MCG in 2022 to hand the Magpies an improbable win.
Essendon captain Zach Merrett admitted he had "deja vu" watching Elliott fly for the mark.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae brushed off Elliott's "what-if" moment.
"It would have been one of those stories - 'Jamie's done it again'," McRae said.
"Whether he would have kicked it or not, that's a space we don't live in.
"We won't review the game of what-ifs ... I'm sure they (Essendon) will have just as many as us."
Australian Associated Press
