getting a deal done for the contracted midfielder<\/a> would be complex.<\/p>\n\u201cThis one has shifted significantly,\u201d Ralph began on Fox Footy\u2019s On the Couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cEssendon is realising: \u2018We have to trade our captain, we just have to make sure we get the best possible deal\u2019. His manager, Tom Petroro, will be the one who effectively brokers this deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is Essendon will say they want two first-round picks and maybe another quality player. And Hawthorn is always hard to deal with, they were hard to deal with in the Tom Barrass situation. They\u2019ll say he\u2019s probably worth Pick 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cMerrett is required, by the AFL, at Monday\u2019s Brownlow Medal. He\u2019s talking about giving the captaincy away and potentially not turning up to the best and fairest.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can\u2019t walk back into that club now as captain and probably not next year under any circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis says he \u201ccouldn\u2019t forgive\u201d Merrett if he was an Essendon teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start, I said Essendon should be doing as much as they possibly can to keep him. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case anymore,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith what\u2019s happened, those relationships internally can\u2019t be repaired. If I was a (Bombers) player, I couldn\u2019t forgive a player that\u2019s been so public about wanting to get out and meeting with other clubs as the captain and a contracted player.\u201d<\/p>\n
HARDWICK \u2018VERY INTERESTED\u2019 IN CURNOW <\/p>\n
Suns coach Damien Hardwick is \u201cvery interested\u201d in acquiring dual Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow. But Hardwick doesn\u2019t want to give away Jed Walter or Ethan Read to make it happen.<\/p>\n
With Gold Coast\u2019s season officially ending in a semi-final defeat to Brisbane, the Suns now turn their attention to the trade period to try and go a few steps further in 2026.<\/p>\n
Gold Coast, Sydney and Geelong have all been linked to Curnow, who\u2019s keen on a trade away from Carlton, while Walter is reportedly a player of interest to the Blues.<\/p>\n
The Couch previews the Prelims | 10:44<\/p>\n
Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph expects the Suns, despite previously playing down interest in Curnow, will explore a deal for the 28-year old.<\/p>\n
\u201cGold Coast spent the finals series denying they were interested in Curnow. People who would know suggest Damien Hardwick is very interested in him,\u201d Ralph said on Fox Footy\u2019s On the Couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t want to trade away his nepo babies in Ethan Read and Jed Walter.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is 15 years in the waiting, finally a superstar player says: \u2018I want to play with you\u2019. There\u2019s got to be a way in which this club can get it done over the next four weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile AFL journalist Damian Barrett anticipated Curnow will secure a trade away from Carlton, who, like Essendon with Zach Merrett, have so far publicly said the star forward won\u2019t be moved.<\/p>\n
But Barrett has Sydney as the most likely landing spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he leaves Carlton. I feel the Swans are, right now, the team in front,\u201d Barrett said on Nine\u2019s Footy Classified.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we know it\u2019s not over until October 15 at the 7.15pm (trade) deadline, that\u2019s about the time we\u2019ll probably hear the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
King declares finals on 2026 agenda | 02:24<\/p>\n
\u2018COME IN A BIG WAY\u2019: DEES\u2019 BOLD MIHOCEK PLAY<\/p>\n
Melbourne has come for Collingwood forward Brody Mihocek \u201cin a big way\u201d as he weighs up an offer to cross to the Demons.<\/p>\n
The 32-year old is out of contract and yet to sign a deal tabled to him by the Magpies.<\/p>\n
And according to Seven\u2019s Mitch Cleary, Melbourne is making a big play for the five-time Collingwood leading goalkicker as new Dees coach Steven King looks to add experience.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Mihocek) has a big decision to make at the end of the season,\u201d Cleary said on Seven\u2019s The Agenda Setters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard Steven King earlier talking about experience and wanting to keep experience on the list,<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Demons have come for Brody Mihocek in a big way. The Pies feel they\u2019ve had a really strong offer to Mihocek on the table for some time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s parked that until the end of the season. He turns 33 in February. I believe he\u2019s weighing up a really strong proposal to join the Melbourne Footy Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had a go at (Joe) Daniher at the start of the year, clearly that won\u2019t be happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cMelbourne is in the market for an experienced key forward and they\u2019ve identified this man, Brody Mihocek.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow Magpie Beau McCreery told foxfooty.com.au he was \u201cvery\u201d confident Mihocek and Jamie Elliott would eventually re-sign<\/a> with Collingwood.<\/p>\n\u201cThey\u2019re two of my closest mates, so if they were to go anywhere, I\u2019d be pretty flat,\u201d McCreery said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no talk like that between us boys. We all love playing together and love playing for Collingwood. I don\u2019t think they\u2019d be going anywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we\u2019ve got a task on the weekend and hopefully in two weeks\u2019 time. I think those boys will stand up and do their thing during those games.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Zach Merrett trade is looking more and more likely. Bit getting a deal done appears complex. Plus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,689,55,14349,1129,20536,98889,10133,13657,14385,98888,98887,2485,9130,17976,36878,681,7804,98885,677,98886,12922,71040,68832,701,31205,10402,85,79260,36865,30690,69078,92572,11236,1133,12920],"class_list":["post-146066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-bobby-hill","tag-charlie-curnow","tag-coaching-job","tag-coast-suns-coach","tag-collingwood-magpies","tag-damian-barrett","tag-damien-hardwick","tag-demons-interest","tag-finals-series-denying","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-hawk-jordan-lewis","tag-jamie-elliott","tag-jon-ralph","tag-melbourne-demons","tag-melbourne-footy-club","tag-oceania","tag-panel-previews","tag-player-movement-news","tag-prelim-final","tag-quality-player","tag-queensland","tag-rival-club","tag-rival-coach","tag-sports","tag-steven-king","tag-suns-coach","tag-superstar-player","tag-tom-barrass","tag-tom-petroro","tag-trade-news","tag-trade-period","tag-trade-whispers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146066","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=146066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}