Essendon refuses to talk to Hawthorn about possible Zach Merrett trade
Essendon says it won’t trade Zach Merrett under any circumstances. Does Hawthorn have a Plan B? Plus the latest on Cam Mackenzie, Zane Duursma and more.
Essendon says not even an official trade request from captain Zach Merrett will twist their arm on a deal to send him to Hawthorn, which admits it does not have a Plan B if the 30-year-old is kept to his long-term deal at the Hangar.
On the first day of the trade period Essendon did a very good job of at least signalling its no-trade stance on Merrett was a club policy rather than just an early bargaining position.
New president Andrew Welsh has already said there is no trade that would appeal to the Dons and list boss Matt Rosa backed up that strong stance on Monday.
As Hawthorn made clear No.7 draft pick Cam Mackenzie is off limits to the Bombers, Rosa also said the club did not want another ruckman or little-used Hawks mid Henry Hustwaite.
So it seems that the Hawks could only satisfy the Dons with picks rather than players which would make a deal more challenging.
Essendon did make clear it was interested in St Kilda captain Jack Steele given his outstanding leadership and inside midfield gifts.
He could be the Dons’ Plan B if Merrett departs on a day when the Dons said their interest in North Melbourne’s Zane Duursma had been shut down by the Roos.
Merrett has already gone nuclear - meeting Sam Mitchell, making clear through his management he wants success elsewhere.
So short of publicly saying he could not play under Brad Scott under any circumstances the only option is for the Hawks to come up with a monster trade package to change Essendon’s mind.
“It’s been an interesting little period, but nothing’s really changed,” Rosa said.
“Clearly, Zach has been gathering information and Zach’s a champion of our football club.
He’s a required player. There’s been really good dialogue between Zach and the club, but Zach will be an Essendon player next year.
“If he does (request a trade) nothing will change from our end, and Zach’s fully aware of that. He’s a contracted player, he’s at the age where we still feel like he’s got plenty of football left to play, and he plays such an important role for our football club and our young players coming through, we feel like we’ve got a really, really strong, young and emerging list. And we also believe in our core group.”
Hawks list boss Mark McKenzie said having drafted well across 3-4 seasons then been more active in recruiting experienced types, Hawthorn was still happy to go back to the draft if they missed on Merrett.
Hawthorn has no interest in Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca has chosen Gold Coast and McKenzie said they would not pivot late to other targets.
Mackenzie has played 46 games in his three seasons since being taken as a No.7 overall selection and while he played only a dozen senior games this year he is going nowhere.
“I think we have had our position with Cam (made clear) a few weeks ago, we love Cam and what he’s doing,” McKenzie said.
“He is only in his third year, we expect him to step up again in his fourth year.”
Husthwaite is also contracted and seemingly not going anywhere.
“He’s been unlucky. He and Cam held us up in the finals for Box HIll. He is a quality person and has really developed his game since year one so he’s a Hawthorn player and we expect him to be there next year.”
Rosa said the Dons were unlikely to consider Roos captain Jy Simpkin but Brad Scott is an admirer of Steele.
“Well, we admire him from afar the way he goes about his football. But again there’s a lot to play out over the week. We will look at all options to whether it’s bringing in role specifics or ideally we can bring in a grade talent, but we’re always looking to bring in high end characters and role specifics that can help the club also.”
Originally published as Essendon refuses to talk to Hawthorn about possible Zach Merrett trade
