Matthew Lloyd calls for Brad Scott to 'fire the bullets' from Brisbane's whiteboard leak at Essendon players

Rather than take offence to what was written, Matthew Lloyd has called on Essendon coach Brad Scott to utilise the Brisbane whiteboard leak to hit some home truths to his playing group.

A fan leaked a whiteboard filled with strengths and weaknesses of Bombers players from the Lions' training facility on Friday, the day before the two teams met in Victoria.

Written by Brisbane players themselves, it featured scathing assessments of many Essendon stars.

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It referred to Zach Merrett and Kyle Langford as "selfish", said captain Andrew McGrath's weakness was his kicking and "coughing up" the ball, similar for Darcy Parish, and said key defender Ben McKay was "low confidence".

And the game played out as expected despite the leak, with the reigning premiers thrashing Essendon by 64 and putting 143 points on the board.

Brisbane has reportedly since apologised to the club for what was written, but Lloyd believes it has presented a great opportunity for Scott and his coaching staff.

"Sometimes you can let other people fire the bullets for you and if I was Brad Scott, I might bring some of these guys in the room, I'd bring Merrett and Langford in and say 'how do you feel about the fact that the oppositions feels you're selfish?'," Lloyd told Nine's Footy Classified.

"Discuss that with them. 'What do you think that would potentially mean, Zach? Where are you at as a footballer?'. Langford the same.

"'McGrath, your kicking, you haven't established yourself as a prime mover through the midfield because of your kicking and disposal'.

"I just think they're honesty pieces that sometimes you struggle with internally because you don't want to lose your players, but you can use it that other people have said it about you to try and stimulate and challenge your players.

"That's what Kevin Sheedy would do. I'll never forget there was a back page in the Herald Sun from a former fitness coach that used to work for Sheedy at Essendon and he said 'Lloyd's too heavy' and he gave all these views on how I was too heavy and I wasn't moving around the ground enough.

"I've got no doubt that Sheedy's fingerprints were all over it. He planted it rather than saying it to me directly to challenge me and make me better."

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Lloyd also feels players don't receive tough feedback as much as they should from coaches, saying they can handle it if the relationship is strong enough.

"I think players in the modern game are pandered to way too much," Lloyd said.

"I don't think they're challenged enough and coaches are too scared to lose their players at times.

"Players respect it. If you've got a great relationship with your players and you do that, I think they'll often respond."

It's a big five weeks for Essendon coming up, with three winnable games likely to have a big say as to whether Scott remains coach of the club in 2027. Lloyd believes it is a flip of the coin right now.

"I think the next month is critical for Essendon. They're 1-7 with a percentage of 70. They've won one of their last 21 games," Lloyd said.

"They've got the Giants and Fremantle next, which they go in as underdogs for, but then they play Richmond, West Coast and Carlton.

"So, if you start losing to those three teams well then Scott will also be a coach under severe pressure.

"I'd say it would be a 50-50 right now on Scott and whether he goes around next year."