When Brad Scott returned to the club after a four week layoff due to back surgery, Darren Crocker said he had a much different focus.

“People look at a harder edge, and they look at Denis Pagan’s harder edge, but I wouldn’t say Brad came back from his absence in that way,’’ Crocker told The Herald Sun.

“All he said (to us) is from my time away I’ve been able to recognise that the team performance hinges on individual performances.

Crocker rebuffed the notion that Scott came back "angrier" and claimed he was more direct with his approach.

“He didn’t come back and strip paint off the walls or bang his fist, he was matter-of-fact in delivering the message that we are going to select a team on what guys do individually.’’

That meant players had to earn their spots and a bigger emphasis was to be placed on a more rounded team effort.

“To become a greater team, we needed to have 22 contributors each week,’’ Crocker said.

“He brought it back to performance. He basically said we needed greater performance from more players within the team and if we’re not getting that better performance, we’ll have to look at others ... and it shook up the group a fair bit."

The message was made clear when Scott handed Brent Harvey the substitute vest and dropped Lindsay Thomas.

‘’With the timing of it, it sent a stronger message,’’ Crocker said.

“He put the players on notice and they’re still on notice."

Others like Ryan Bastinac, Luke McDonald, Kayne Turner and Aaron Mullett also found it harder to retain their positions in the side.

‘’He dropped a few guys because their performance wasn’t where they need to be and it’s really had a good effect, players have had to pull their finger out and perform,’’ Crocker said.

Against Sydney on Saturday night, Scott will need all 22 playing their roles to perfection if the Roos are to advance to a preliminary final against the Eagles.