{"id":148481,"date":"2025-09-16T23:35:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T23:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/148481\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T23:35:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T23:35:06","slug":"zach-merrett-adelaide-crows-in-the-conversation-despite-strong-hawthorn-links-why-lachie-neale-wont-join-west-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/148481\/","title":{"rendered":"Zach Merrett Adelaide Crows in the conversation despite strong Hawthorn links, why Lachie Neale won\u2019t join West Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hawthorn mightn\u2019t be the only club in the mix to lure disgruntled Essendon captain Zach Merrett.<\/p>\n

But a rival club skipper isn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n

Get the latest player movement news and updates in AFL Trade Whispers!<\/p>\n

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RIVAL \u2018JOINS THE CONVERSATION\u2019 FOR MERRETT<\/p>\n

Hawthorn isn\u2019t the only club in the mix for disgruntled Essendon captain Zach Merrett, according to veteran footy reporter Caroline Wilson, who believes Adelaide is also \u201cin the conversation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Merrett\u2019s time at Essendon appears over<\/a>, with all signs suggesting the two parties are destined for an ugly divorce<\/a> \u2014 despite Merrett being the club\u2019s captain and contracted until the end of 2027.<\/p>\n

The four-time best and fairest winner and three-time All-Australian is reportedly determined to join Hawthorn<\/a>, with Hawks coach Sam Mitchell last week meeting with Merrett<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But speaking on Channel 7 on Tuesday night, Wilson said she doesn\u2019t believe Hawthorn are \u201cthe only club in this conversation now\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sicily: Rival trade raids the ‘new norm’ | 00:54<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in fact certain that the Adelaide Football Club have joined the conversation,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a serious list management meeting on Thursday. They are not the club they thought they were three weeks ago when they entered into the finals series, a game clear on the top of the ladder. They need to bolster their midfield.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if Merrett would be open to joining the Crows, she said: \u201cHe wants to go to Hawthorn.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t be surprised to hear that Zach isn\u2019t taking my calls at the moment. I don\u2019t know what he thinks about Adelaide.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdelaide is a good footy club, they need a midfielder, they spoke about him today (Tuesday) at an unofficial chat about where they\u2019re going.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said to me that it would be wrong to say that we\u2019re actively pursuing this, but yes we are in the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHY NEALE \u2018WANTS TO STAY IN BRISBANE\u2019<\/p>\n

The manager of Brisbane superstar Lachie Neale insists his client isn\u2019t going anywhere, despite links to a move back to WA.<\/p>\n

Neale \u2014 the premiership Lion, dual Brownlow medallist, four-time All-Australian and five-time best and fairest winner \u2014 was reportedly approached by West Coast earlier this year<\/a> around whether he would entertain a move back to WA.<\/p>\n

It was an approach Neale reportedly turned down.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s Midweek Tackle on Tuesday night, Herald Sun reporter Josh Barnes stressed Neale was determined to stay with the Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis captain isn\u2019t on the move,\u201d Barnes told Midweek Tackle.<\/p>\n

‘Enough is enough’ as Simpkin wants out | 01:57<\/p>\n

\u201cHis manager Tim Lawrence of TGI Sport went on the record with me today \u2026 there is absolutely nothing to the talk of him going back to WA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no interest in going back to West Coast, there is no home sickness with him or within his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants to stay at Brisbane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neale is eyeing a remarkable return to the field should Brisbane qualify for the Grand Final, despite initial fears he\u2019d be sidelined for the rest of the season after a qualifying final calf injury.<\/p>\n

Barnes said Neale had been using a hyberpabric chamber, as well as Red Light Therapy, as part of an ambitious bid to prove his fitness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he wants to do is play in a Grand Final. That\u2019s what he\u2019s working to at the moment,\u201d Barnes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a running session today \u2013 could you believe only a couple of weeks after his calf tear.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing everything he can \u2026 the door is slightly, slightly open.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hawthorn mightn\u2019t be the only club in the mix to lure disgruntled Essendon captain Zach Merrett. But a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9126,64,63,689,3423,651,100109,12928,100114,100108,13213,10145,61,2105,100110,36873,91125,25875,24309,647,7204,677,12922,100113,701,672,100111,12936,85,100112,11236,12920,100107,660,100115],"class_list":["post-148481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-adelaide-crows","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-brisbane","tag-calf-tear","tag-caroline-wilson","tag-fairest-winner","tag-final-calf-injury","tag-finals-series","tag-garry-lyon","tag-gerard-whateley","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-hawthorn-mightn","tag-james-sicily","tag-josh-barnes","tag-lachie-neale","tag-list-management","tag-melbourne","tag-north-melbourne-kangaroos","tag-oceania","tag-player-movement-news","tag-qualifying-final-calf","tag-queensland","tag-richmond-tigers","tag-rival-club-skipper","tag-sam-mitchell","tag-sports","tag-tim-lawrence","tag-trade-news","tag-trade-whispers","tag-veteran-footy-reporter","tag-victoria","tag-zach-merrett-adelaide-crows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148481","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=148481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}