{"id":114709,"date":"2025-09-03T03:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T03:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/114709\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T03:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T03:28:10","slug":"zach-merrett-future-at-essendon-bombers-trade-news-rumours-whispers-reaction-commentary-sam-draper-jordan-ridley-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/114709\/","title":{"rendered":"Zach Merrett future at Essendon Bombers, trade news, rumours, whispers, reaction, commentary, Sam Draper, Jordan Ridley, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d at Essendon as several stars are being linked to exits including talk skipper Zach Merrett is again considering his future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And Melbourne great Garry Lyon says it would be a \u201cdisaster\u201d if Merrett departed the club this off-season after Bombers officials held a key meeting with the gun midfielder last month to pitch the club\u2019s vision. <\/p>\n

It comes 12 months after Merrett was linked to a move to St Kilda in one of several rival plays for the star midfielder over the years, with clubs again keenly watching the situation. <\/p>\n

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Merrett, who turns 30 in October, two months ago reaffirmed his commitment to the Bombers<\/a>. But his patience is clearly being tested after Essendon missed finals for the third-straight year under Brad Scott in another disappointing, injury-ruined season. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile Sam Draper is expected to depart for either Brisbane or Adelaide in free agency, and Jordan Ridley reportedly raised the prospect of a trade at his exit meeting.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s Midweek Tackle, Herald Sun reporter Scott Gullan expanded on his story surrounding \u201chow Essendon keeps repeating the same circle over and over\u201d<\/a> amid talk of frustration from players over the club\u2019s direction. <\/p>\n

Merrett is reportedly again weighing up his future (Photo by James Wiltshire\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately it\u2019s a bit of Groundhog Day with this club, it\u2019s happening again,\u201d Gullan said on the program. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve had to sell the vision to Zach Merrett, who\u2019s been mentioned again (in trade rumours). Twelve months earlier they had to sit down with him and say: \u2018Zach, you\u2019re our captain. Please stay, we\u2019re going to come good\u2019. They\u2019ve had to do it again. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the thing the players are not happy about. (Brad Scott) came in and said: \u2018We\u2019ve got to teach you to become professionals\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not providing a professional environment at the moment of these players. Jordan Ridley, Kyle Langford, Darcy Parish and all these players. What\u2019s happened with their injuries and their training facilities and their program. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll these players are going: \u2018Hang on, is this the best environment for me?\u2019 And they\u2019ve got every right. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs does Zach, although we don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to leave. But clearly other players are looking at what\u2019s happened, where their careers are at and this environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gullan noted the Bombers have turned to \u201coutsiders\u201d to try and break their cycle of no finals success, but the recent reset under Scott is a hard sell given it\u2019s being executed with more of a long-term view. <\/p>\n

‘No Way a Victim’: Rankine fronts media | 01:29<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wider narrative is this club continues to have historic problems. They bring in outsiders,\u201d Gullan added.<\/p>\n

\u201cCEO Craig Vozzo, Brad Scott (both came in) outside the Essendon bubble to try and change it. They\u2019re three years in (under Scott) and finished 11th, 11th and 15th.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for them to break this mould that\u2019s in Essendon, it\u2019s a real cultural issue. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment they\u2019re facing the same thing they faced 12 months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph suggested the disconnect between the club\u2019s direction and players in their prime wanting success is the core of the issue. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Essendon is) thinking long term, when the players maybe considering their futures are saying: \u2018Why are we so risk averse, why are we going back to the draft?\u2019,\u201d Ralph said on Midweek Tackle.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssendon would say they\u2019ve nailed the two drafts list boss Matt Rosa has had at his disposal. But the players would say: \u2018Look at the people the clubs above us on the ladder (are targeting). Sydney wants Charlie Curnow. Port Adelaide had a great crack at Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera. The Dogs want Jack Silvagni. Everyone is having a crack and we\u2019re going back to the draft again\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple of players that have won a final on the Essendon list, but none of them actually drafted by Essendon. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think what the players would say is: \u2018You keep talking about the long-term, but a lot of players would say they\u2019re never going to win a final at the Essendon Football Club. Of course I\u2019m looking at my future and looking at other clubs\u2019.<\/p>\n

Lyon meanwhile didn\u2019t doubt Merrett\u2019s pledge to Bombers on AFL 360 in July, but the Demons legend noted it\u2019s a precarious situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer he gave I believe, but the answer can change. And what else was he going to say?,\u201d Lyon said on AFL 360 on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cTim Watson, one of the all-time Essendon greats, couldn\u2019t even contemplate losing Zach Merrett.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a crisis, but there is challenges. If that was to unfold (Merrett walked out), that would be a disaster for the Bombers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe could say: \u2018Hey, I put my flag in the ground here and let\u2019s get on with it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d at Essendon as several stars are being linked to exits including talk skipper Zach Merrett…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,696,81563,47404,81562,11231,71919,48043,1127,10145,2105,2485,9130,81567,33693,681,81561,25540,26596,62276,677,6082,81565,701,11244,1124,85,1122,81564,49667,81566,660,25581],"class_list":["post-114709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-brad-scott","tag-craig-vozzo","tag-crows-star","tag-drafts-list-boss","tag-essendon-bombers","tag-exit-meeting","tag-finals-success","tag-fox-footy","tag-garry-lyon","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-gun-midfielder","tag-james-wiltshire","tag-jon-ralph","tag-key-meeting","tag-kyle-langford","tag-matt-roberts","tag-matt-rosa","tag-oceania","tag-port-adelaide","tag-professional-environment","tag-queensland","tag-sam-draper","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-talk-skipper","tag-tim-watson","tag-ugly-history","tag-victoria","tag-zach-merrett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}