‘Borderline childish’: Essendon act exposed as saga takes turn
The Bombers have been called out over a Trade Period act that has left commentators snickering with a monster deal twisting dramatically.
Essendon has left commentators snickering as they refuse to negotiate with Hawthorn surrounding Zach Merrett’s trade request.
The Bombers captain’s divorce from the club has been the ugliest saga of the 2025 Trade Period and it appears certain to go down to the wire when the deadline hits at 7.30pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.
It was widely reported on Tuesday Hawthorn had tabled an official offer to the Bombers, but the Hawks were given the cold shoulder.
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As reported by leading footy journalist Sam Edmund, Bombers officials refused to answer calls from Hawthorn officials on Tuesday afternoon.
Essendon has scoffed at the deal, which is reported to be Pick 9 at the 2025 AFL Draft, Hawthorn’s first round pick in 2026, a second round pick and young Hawks player Henry Hustwaite or Pick 62.
With Hawthorn again expected to perform well next year, the club’s first round pick will likely be shuffled deep into the teens.
Speaking on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters, Edmund agreed with Kane Cornes that the negotiations had turned “nasty”.
“The gloves are absolutely off here,” Edmund said.
“Let’s rewind a fraction. Yesterday Zach Merrett met with Essendon powerbrokers, including coach Brad Scott, and he looked the coach in the eye and he said, ‘Coach I want out and not only do I want out, I want to request a trade to Hawthorn’.”
He went on to say Essendon has since given Hawthorn the “silence treatment”.
“They’re not answering calls. They’re not returning calls,” he said.
“They (Hawthorn) say it’s borderline childish. This is the offer they’ve put forward. There won’t be a better one. Take it or leave it.”
In another trade shadow games barb, one Hawthorn official has suggested to the reporter that new Bombers president Andrew Welsh is putting his own agenda ahead of the club after coming out of the blocks hard when saying publicly the club would not trade Merrett.
According to reports, Merrett has been in daily conversations with Welsh, but it appears it is all starting to fall apart.
Channel 7 football reporter Mitch Cleary on Tuesday also said Essendon figures believe the club’s strong refusal to trade Merrett could “unite” the famously fractured club.
“People at Essendon that I’ve spoken to today have suggested that Zach Merrett thought this would tear the footy club down. That it would leave a trail of destruction,” Cleary said on Agenda Setters.
“If anything it might have galvanised and united the Essendon footy club as a whole. They will not be trading him.”
Cleary said Essendon only views Hustwaite as a “VFL player” and that yesterday’s offer “has not moved the needle at all”.
“It would have to be an almighty backflip from Essendon to trade Zach Merrett now,” he said.
“I can’t see it happening.”
According to reports, Hawthorn has now been forced to assess contingency plans with its No. 9 pick if Essendon doesn’t take it in a trade for Merrett.
It will be an icy pre-season for Merrett if he is unable to fight his way out of the club.
Merrett, who won his sixth club best and fairest earlier this month, made an awkward speech at the event conceding to “complexities and uncertainties” about his future having met with Hawks coach Sam Mitchell.
But following a statement from new president Welsh that Merrett would be kept to the final two years of his contract, Bombers list boss Matt Rosa has been adamant the 30-year-old is a “required player”.
Originally published as ‘Borderline childish’: Essendon act exposed as saga takes turn
