An Essendon great can\u2019t see Zach Merrett walking back through the doors at the club<\/p>\n
Plus a bold play for a dual Brownlow medallist earlier this season.<\/p>\n
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Watch every match of the 2025 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018TURNED NASTY\u2019: BOMBERS LEGEND CALLS FOR MERRETT TRADE<\/p>\n Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd believes star skipper Zach Merrett shouldn\u2019t return to the club after things have \u201cturned nasty\u201d in recent days. <\/p>\n Merrett\u2019s meeting with Hawthorn<\/a> this week raised eyebrows as the gun midfielder plots a trade away from Tullamarine in a saga starting to get ugly, with reports suggesting he mightn\u2019t attend Essendon\u2019s best and fairest next month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Teammates and fellow leadership group members Mason Redman and Nic Martin expressed their disappointment with Merrett\u2019s catch up with the Hawks<\/a>. Meanwhile Merrett\u2019s manager, Tom Petroro from TGI Sport, via SEN\u2019s Sam Edmund detailed the five-time best and fairest\u2019s reasons for wanting to leave the Bombers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite the uproar, Essendon president David Barham in statement reaffirmed Merrett, contracted for two more seasons, wouldn\u2019t be traded.<\/p>\n However Lloyd believes it would be best for both the club and player at this point to go their separate ways.<\/p>\n Panel react to Mitchell-Merrett question | 01:01<\/p>\n \u201cMy view is he\u2019s certainly made a call (to leave). For every time he\u2019s contemplated it, this is now he\u2019s gone all-in,\u201d Lloyd said of Merrett on 3AW.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no easy way to break-up in life, whether it\u2019s a relationship or with your footy club, it always turns ugly.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s captain of the footy club and he has decided: \u2018This is not where I want to be anymore\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBetween him and his manager, I\u2019ve never seen something more open. His manager is giving quotes to journalists and the reasons why Zach doesn\u2019t want to be there. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s turned nasty against him from his club.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think for both parties now, it would be best if he wasn\u2019t playing for the Essendon Football Club next year.\u201d<\/p>\n Betts backs Hill for return | 01:09<\/p>\n While Merrett has been long adored by Bombers fans, Lloyd feared \u201churt\u201d supporters hoping the skipper would be a one-club player have suddenly \u201cturned\u201d on their skipper.<\/p>\n \u201cI am already seeing it and hearing it. People who love Zach Merrett and have always loved and admired him, they\u2019ve turned on him,\u201d Lloyd added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe venom that\u2019s coming towards him from Essendon people, they\u2019re hurt and shattered.<\/p>\n \u201cThat a guy who should win his sixth best and fairest … they wanted him to be their Matthew Richardson at Richmond, Patrick Cripps at Carlton and Shane Crawford at Hawthorn.\u201d<\/p>\n It comes after confirmation Sam Draper will leave the Bombers in free agency, while Jordan Ridley is also reportedly seeking a trade.<\/p>\n And Lloyd could understand Merrett\u2019s reasons for wanting out after 12 seasons at the club and no success.<\/p>\n \u201cOn his side, he\u2019s going: \u2018I don\u2019t want to go in half baked … I\u2019ve done that for years. Nothing\u2019s changed, I\u2019ve now lost Draper and I\u2019m probably losing Ridley. I want to win some finals, it\u2019s not going to happen (here), so I am out\u2019,\u201d the 2000 premiership Bomber continued.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I can see both sides of it.\u201d<\/p>\n EAGLES\u2019 BOLD MID-SEASON PLAY FOR NEALE<\/p>\n West Coast reportedly made a play for Lions star co-captain Lachie Neale earlier this year \u2014 an inquiry shut down by the dual Brownlow medallist.<\/p>\n Neale, who\u2019s originally from South Australia, in 2021 was a linked with a move back to Western Australian via Fremantle, where he started his career, before starting put at the Lions and helping lead the club to the 2024 premiership.<\/p>\n