AFL Player 7: Indefatigable Zach Merrett - Stepping down as captain for 2026

[fishardansin]

We're not getting the same or similar value next season even if he earns another AA jacket, I'd expect we'd be lucky to get a single first rounder.

Gold Coast have no first-rounder for next year right now. But if in the likely situation Merrett looks to leave at the end of next year he could go there for a quality player under 25 and their 2027 first rounder. Even if it ends up in late 20s it is still technically a first rounder and packaged up with ours would probably be enough to get Bewick in the draft. Knowing all year that Merrett is leaving gives us more time to put a package together to go nuts and try and get 2 of Butters, Bailey and King. Maybe we get lucky and have Humphrey for Merret.

Coming at this stage it didn't give us time to plan.

 

[Phone]

No, we kept that conniving rat to his deal and I expect that he will act with the integrity of a leader to rebuild the trust of the playing group.
That's what a professional leader would do.

why would he be a leader anymore

 

[Old man fletch]

Would have meant nothing. We don’t need extra picks. We have no list spots.

If only there was some sort of mechanism for exchanging picks with other clubs who also have picks

Yeah that was my point. Gives us pick 10 this year, trade 2 seconds (we had 21, 27 and 30 before the trade period) for possibly one of Carltons picks around 10 (with a promise we won't bid on dean)/GWS, a (likely) late first rounder next year and leaves us a couple of seconds for NGAs.

5, 6, 9, 11, 2x seconds. Setterfield, Hobbs, Lual OOC for freeing up list spots plus Hawks FY26FRP

 

[Phone]

Gold Coast have no first-rounder for next year right now. But if in the likely situation Merrett looks to leave at the end of next year he could go there for a quality player under 25 and their 2027 first rounder. Even if it ends up in late 20s it is still technically a first rounder and packaged up with ours would probably be enough to get Bewick in the draft. Knowing all year that Merrett is leaving gives us more time to put a package together to go nuts and try and get 2 of Butters, Bailey and King. Maybe we get lucky and have Humphrey for Merret.

Coming at this stage it didn't give us time to plan.

we had like 6 weeks and also zach fired a warning shot last season. not buying that.

 

[Call Me Cake]

I say we dub our annual R1 game V the hawkes the Deadline Match

 

[Vindicater]

Has Tom Petroro spoken at all publicly since his little dummy spit?

 

[ghostdog]

A footy club also needs to make it patently clear that if you sign a contract with us you will treat that contract as stipulated. Then if you wish to break a contract you must work through it with the club you signed for - respectfully. You don’t undermine it and you certainly don’t allow the poaching club to destabilise the relationship. It’s not a precedent any self-respecting club should allow.

100%

 

[fairbump_playon]

This will seem mean spirited but I’m not too upset that ZM will be hurting tonight

There has been a big focus on what value Hawthorn would offer but it’s Merrett who did the damage. He’s the captain. He’s meant to leave us somewhere better than where he found us, not cut and run. It shows embarrassing weakness of character. He has screwed his legacy by being a self absorbed dick. If he wanted the place to improve, he could have tried being a better leader.

The premise of the Hawks deal was that Zach could play for another 5-6 years. That time frame is plenty long enough for EFC to rise if everyone sticks fat.

I guarantee that at the Mitchell dinner they all agreed on the strategy of leaking to destabilise Essendon and drop Zach’s value. That move would have been no surprise. He literally went into enemy territory and hatched a plan to screw EFC in order to get where he wanted to go.

So disappointing!

Letting him go and taking the picks would have made some sense, but on balance I’m just happy the party balloons have been pricked and a message has been sent. That may be worth more in the long run.

 

[chungi]

ok but that's beside the point. the Swans lodged their first offer after the Hawks and got their deal done.

Everyone knew this was going down to the last day. whether the Hawks lodge their first offer 36 hours or 108 hours away from the deadline really isn't important in terms of actually getting the deal done. it changed nothing. all the people involved knows how this goes.

Well it is. The earlier the first offer comes in, the earlier the Hawks would have got told no and gotten a clearer indication on what would be required, thus giving Hawthorn more time to get those required picks.

If the offer was early and what we indicated would be required, it wouldn't have gotten to the last day.

 

[Bjchan13]

I don't think Zach requests a trade next year. I can also see Hawthorn missing finals. Captaincy probably all but finished but that might actually help us as a team and his personal game. Water off a ducks back once pre season starts

 

[Shanghaistu]

This club is so pathetic I’m sure they’ll insist on him remaining captain for the foreseeable future. At least day 1 of preseason should be fun - “look, when the media quoted me as saying you guys were an abject bunch of spuds with no chance of success, what I REALLY meant to say was ….” (Insert kumbaya moment here)

 

[Shanghaistu]

They land roughly around the usual mark, and it gives you collateral to trade into later drafts, which would have been helpful before Tas comes. And yeah we'll continue to stand proudly while the ship sinks and we ride our way to 14th year after year. We're a laughing stock, we had a chance to break out of mediocrity and we said no. One of the worst decisions I've seen this club make and that's saying a lot.

Welshy clearly had the mighty Dodo consulting him through this period

 

[Phone]

Well it is. The earlier the first offer comes in, the earlier the Hawks would have got told no and gotten a clearer indication on what would be required, thus giving Hawthorn more time to get those required picks.

If the offer was early and what we indicated would be required, it wouldn't have gotten to the last day.

do you know how the trade period works.

Fiorini to us only happened yday. Clayton Oliver only got done at 6pm and that was a fairly easy deal. big deals go into the last few hours. the Hawks not lodging an offer until Thursday basically does not matter at all in the grand scheme of things. it's a non-factor.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

This will seem mean spirited but I’m not too upset that ZM will be hurting tonight

There has been a big focus on what value Hawthorn would offer but it’s Merrett who did the damage. He’s the captain. He’s meant to leave us somewhere better than where he found us, not cut and run. It shows embarrassing weakness of character. He has screwed his legacy by being a self absorbed dick. If he wanted the place to improve, he could have tried being a better leader.

The premise of the Hawks deal was that Zach could play for another 5-6 years. That time frame is plenty long enough for EFC to rise if everyone sticks fat.

I guarantee that at the Mitchell dinner they all agreed on the strategy of leaking to destabilise Essendon and drop Zach’s value. That move would have been no surprise. He literally went into enemy territory and hatched a plan to screw EFC in order to get where he wanted to go.

So disappointing!

Letting him go and taking the picks would have made some sense, but on balance I’m just happy the party balloons have been pricked and a message has been sent. That may be worth more in the long run.

I have no sympathy at all for him. He's made his bed and so he needs to lay in it. Tough t***ies.

 

[andleanback]

ok but that's beside the point. the Swans lodged their first offer after the Hawks and got their deal done.

Everyone knew this was going down to the last day. whether the Hawks lodge their first offer 36 hours or 108 hours away from the deadline really isn't important in terms of actually getting the deal done. it changed nothing. all the people involved knows how this goes.

Sydney didn’t have a 4 week run away. They’ve been working on merrett for weeks and essendon didn’t want to trade, and that’s the best they could do. Lol

 

[ghostdog]

I mean if he was given certain assurances about our direction in order to have him sign the contract, and then thinks start looking to him like we're not living up to those I can understand why he might not be happy about it.

It seems like the things he was particularly upset about was Draper being let go and Laverde being delisted; the loss of mature players who might bring about success quicker than a new crop of draftees.

Were assurances mentioned by Morris or Petroro to try to shake him loose?
I don't recall anything like that being said. Even so, if he wanted that and his manager didn't have the foresight to have it written into the contract, that's on Petroro.
The contract is the guarantee that everyone's on the same page.

 

[MiguelM]

We actually wanted a player like Mackenzie. Hawthorn ruled out giving players completely. What else can we ask for other than all their first round picks?

^^This.

They never listened, hell we might have even taken 2 first round picks and a GOOD player.

Picks were never getting it done and our position didn't change. They thought we would cave.

 

[Call Me Cake]

I actually think Sweid sounds like a grouse option for us, but are we that petty?

 

[thepokey]

I say we dub our annual R1 game V the hawkes the Deadline Match

Game has to start by 7pm

 

[chungi]

do you know how the trade period works.

Fiorini to us only happened yday. Clayton Oliver only got done at 6pm and that was a fairly easy deal. big deals go into the last few hours. the Hawks not lodging an offer until Thursday basically does not matter at all in the grand scheme of things. it's a non-factor.

Haha rightio. It's not a non-factor to Hawthorn or Zach. Worked out well for them

 

[ghostdog]

why would he be a leader anymore

I'm not interested in semantics. He has been our Captain. If he has any leadership qualities at all, let's see them now.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Gold Coast have no first-rounder for next year right now. But if in the likely situation Merrett looks to leave at the end of next year he could go there for a quality player under 25 and their 2027 first rounder. Even if it ends up in late 20s it is still technically a first rounder and packaged up with ours would probably be enough to get Bewick in the draft. Knowing all year that Merrett is leaving gives us more time to put a package together to go nuts and try and get 2 of Butters, Bailey and King. Maybe we get lucky and have Humphrey for Merret.

Coming at this stage it didn't give us time to plan.

I just can't see anyone offering a similar deal for a 31 year old that's going to be a UFA the year after. You might convince someone to part with a 2027 F1 easily because Tasmania's picks will dilute the draft pool a lot, the pick we get might end up being late 20s. I cannot see much else being thrown in on top of that 2027 F1 though.

At this point we may as well double down and keep him until his contract expires in 2027. Maybe the chance to play with Koby will change his mind.

 

[Mr Bultitude]

In no world does Merrett remain captain.

Here’s hoping the group embrace him back and encourage him to purely focus on playing his best. Might thrive without the burden of leadership.

Oh, and get a BIG dog up ya, Sam.

 

[The Airing of Grievances]

We'll be comparing Essendon and Carlton's approach for a long time I think. I like Carlton's approach better.

But is it really a fair comparison? The offer Sydney put to Carlton is appreciably better than the one hawthorn offered us. At the very least by the inclusion of a player(Hayward) who has been a regular best 22 in a mostly top 8 side in multiple seasons and still only 26 , compared with a player (Hurstwaite) who has appeared mainly at VFL level.
As to what we might think of our clubs decision in 12 or 24 months time, there are so many variables that will be hard to make a fair assessment even with the advantage of hindsight. I realise you are making a call now , and you may well be vindicated and be fairly able to say'told you so' .
Look I think the great majority of us do feel uncomfortable about having a senior player in the ranks next year who so publicly wanted out. And maybe I'm being uncharacteristly optimistic but it is nevertheless possible Zach returns to training, and has his enthusiasm rekindled by our existing young guys and the bunch of new draftees, along with a lift in enthusiasm from some of our injury plagued players who buy in with new strength and conditioning set up and he has a great season. He may then change his mind, or at least retain most of his trade value this time next year when perhaps there might be a more competitive bidding process. After all , even if he still wants to go to Hawks, they may very well prioritise Butters and there seems no way they could do both.
Another thing that makes it hard to compare even down the track is the inherent uncertainty about how the proposed draft picks end up being used. Even if the picks Hawthorn offered us end up being used to select a player who turns out to be a good or better AFL regular, there is no way to know if we would have used that particular selection in the same way with the same result. We have a good draft hand this year as is, which is one reason the first offered to us this year was less of an attraction than Sydney's to Carlton, so if we cant hit the dartboard with 5 ,6 and 20, it's only marginally statistically more likely that the we'd do so with the first from Hawthorn. And if Carlton happen to strike gold with the first from Sydney, our decision has no relevance to that outcome.

 

[Lore]

If we traded 3 firsts for a 30yo curnow or petracca who actually didn't want to come here it'd be ridiculous, it'd nuke the club and set the rebuild back years, there'd be no logic to it. That's basically what we've done.

3 firsts is the new 2 firsts since they opened 2027 picks for trading 2 years early