By Peter Ryan
Essendon captain Zach Merrett has revealed he felt obligated to make his partner Alexandra and parents aware that St Kilda might be prepared to make him a life-changing offer to change clubs before he dismissed the prospect of a trade.
The 28-year-old said he was too focused on leading the Bombers into a successful period alongside senior coach Brad Scott, and too loyal to Essendon supporters and club people, to consider leaving despite the potential dollars being floated.
Zach Merrett admitted he is desperate for success at Essendon.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
In a frank post-season interview with The Age, the Bombers skipper also said he was angry at the suggestion he would put personal relationships ahead of the club’s interests after the Dons told Jake Stringer they would not give him a two-year deal.
“I can cop feedback on my footy and give me as much feedback as you want and how bad I am at footy but when it was tossed up that I would try to push to get two of my mates on the list that just didn’t add up to me. That pissed me off,” Merrett said.
He said he was desperate to lead the club into finals and experience success, and it was likely he, Scott and vice-captain Andy McGrath would travel to Los Angeles in mid-October to gather ideas to improve the football program.
Merrett admitted he was taken aback when his manager rang him to say the Saints would be prepared to put together a mega-offer for him if he was open to considering it.
“I was driving home one day and got a call from my manager and I had not had one single thought about leaving or wanting to leave, so got a call from him to say there is a potential offer from St Kilda that is quite large … I felt I had to take it to my partner [Alexandra] even though I did not have the appetite to leave, I felt it was the right thing to do,” Merrett said.
“It was not that I wanted to leave. It was more: ‘This is potentially life changing.’ After a few discussions with my partner, who obviously knows me very well … money is one thing, but it never got to the stage where I want to entertain this, or I want to have a discussion with St Kilda.”
Zach Merrett said he never contemplated leaving Essendon. Credit: Getty Images
Merrett signed a six-year deal tying him to Essendon until the end of 2027 midway through 2021. He said recent events had reinforced his desire to lift the Bombers into big finals and a grand final.
“To be here 11 years and go through those tough times and have an enormous and massive and passionate, and probably impatient, supporter base, I feel indebted to them,” Merrett said.
“Essendon drafted me and every other team had a pick before Essendon so once I got here I felt very indebted to the club.
“[There are a] lot of layers to it. I’m personally very loyal and my family are loyal and humble. The relationships I have at the football club through staff or players or supporters – I could not see myself leaving.”
The Saints have made no secret of their desire to attract A-grade midfielders, but said on Monday that no formal offer was made to Merrett, nor were there formal discussions with him or his manager. The Bombers said they would not trade him.
Merrett said he was “pissed off” at the suggestion he would put personal relationships with teammates ahead of the club’s best interests when he spoke with Scott post-season about what was required to lift the club into premiership contention.
The midfielder admitted he didn’t enjoy seeing any teammates being delisted or caught up in unresolved contract discussions, and it was even more difficult when off-field friends, such as Stringer, Jayden Laverde and the delisted Nick Hind, were involved.
However, he understood such decisions were the nature of professional sport.
“I would never, ever put personal relationships or personal biases ahead of what is right for the team or decisions people are making at the club,” Merrett said.
“[Brad and I] chatted about everyone. He updated me on their exit interviews and the discussions that they had at the club with Jake and Jayden [Laverde] and their managers, but also with the guys who got delisted and also other players that may not have seemed as prominent or that I may not be as close with personally.
Jake Stringer will be a headline during the trade period as he seeks a two-year deal.Credit: Getty Images
“It was more of a discussion, and he was keen to hear my thoughts on where I see individuals and the guys I thought could help us moving forward as well. It was a healthy discussion.”
He said Stringer had been mature in accepting the club’s position that he would need to go elsewhere to get a two-year deal.
“Jake is not naive. He’s 30. He’s not stupid. He is respectful that Brad has [been honest]. We have chatted a lot and I have actually been pretty impressed with his response,” Merrett said.
“Obviously, there are things to play out at his end, whether he does stay or go … It’s certainly the healthiest and fittest and mentally clear he has probably been for a long time. Hopefully [he stays] with us but, if not, he has got himself in a position to play some of his better footy.”
He also understood Laverde might have other clubs interested in him, and that delisting Hind was the sort of decision clubs had to make.
“As captain you probably reflect on what more I could have done? That is the starting point: what could I have done better? From there you get to the point where you know the industry moves quickly and six to eight guys minimum are going to move every season,” Merrett said.
“I have been in the industry for 11 years now [and] I have no one left on the list from when I started, given Dyson [Heppell] retired. I am the only one left. It’s not that I am not emotional about it or that I don’t get sad or disappointed that guys are finishing, but I have become accustomed to it.
“It makes it a little bit harder [when it involves] guys you are a bit closer to, given you might not be with them every day any more.”
The four-time best-and-fairest winner and three-time All-Australian had no issue with the club and spoke to Scott five or six times a week about how to improve.
“Brad is amazing with me and very much open with the plan as he sees the club moving forward. We have a strong relationship which is getting closer and closer by the day,” Merrett said.
Merrett was confident, despite the late-season fade-out, that the game style the Bombers were aiming to embed was right.
“There is definitely an urgency to get better even if we go to the draft this year. We are not developing or going back or waiting … Fans should expect they get a team that is consistent and rocks up to win every game,” he said.
“We want to put more expectations on ourselves that we do rock up and perform.”
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