{"id":179713,"date":"2025-09-30T09:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/179713\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:42:09","slug":"how-the-essendon-best-and-fairest-could-shape-the-whole-afl-trade-period-for-players-well-beyond-bombers-captain-zach-merrett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/179713\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Essendon best and fairest could shape the whole AFL trade period for players well beyond Bombers captain Zach Merrett"},"content":{"rendered":"

The broader question beyond Essendon, and for the rest of the clubs approaching trade period, is how long do the Hawks wait for the Bombers to blink? How long do they hold out for Merrett? He is their priority, but, in terms of elite midfielders, Christian Petracca is now dangling tantalisingly once more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Last week it became clear to Petracca that getting out of Melbourne was best for him, and Melbourne were content for him to look around. On Sunday night his manager, Anna Scullie, rang her husband Eddie Betts\u2019 old club Adelaide \u2013 the club where Petracca\u2019s close mate Alex Neal-Bullen shifted to last year \u2013 and told them he was coming over on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fact Petracca flew to Adelaide for these meetings only weeks after a new senior Melbourne coach was appointed<\/a> suggests Petracca\u2019s heartburn with Melbourne runs deeper than a new coach and the die had already been cast (maybe for club and player) long before Steven King was appointed.<\/p>\n

It might indicate that King either could not change Petracca\u2019s mind, or that he also took the view that a fresh start was needed for club and player. So, if Petracca wants out, then go, but only on our terms. The Demons\u2019 view was for him to meet the Crows, but also be prepared to eat crow if it doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Ideally, now is when Melbourne want Gold Coast to jump into the Petracca market.<\/p>\n

The Suns are interested but, while Petracca has met with Damien Hardwick once, there has been no indication this week of wanting to meet with the club.<\/p>\n

Melbourne want Gold Coast in the fray because they\u2019d really like Bailey Humphrey and, if he were to be available in a trade, then a deal for Petracca could be done. The Demons really want Humphrey. Again. They wanted him in his draft year, and they have wanted him each year since he went to the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

Humphrey is also wanted by nine other Victorian clubs, and several others interstate. But, more importantly, he is wanted by the club he is contracted to play for over the next three years. Gold Coast are not interested to parting with Humphrey for Petracca or anyone else.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to Hawthorn. The Hawks will have a point at which they might have to accept what Essendon say and give up on getting Merrett, and contemplate Petracca or others. They are not there yet. And besides that, presently, other clubs are wondering if Petracca to Adelaide is a boat race.<\/p>\n

The Crichton Medal night then could be decisive in what happens next and the ongoing appetite at Essendon for keeping their captain, or at least the chap who was captain this season, for it is unlikely that, even if he stays, Essendon or Merrett would want him to be captain next season.<\/p>\n

If the Hawks pivot to Petracca, and they can entice him to talk to them (at the very least the chef might be attracted to a meal at Sam\u2019s Place<\/a>, given it\u2019s a very popular eatery), then what does that look like for them in a trade? What do Hawthorn have to give up to turn Melbourne\u2019s head? A key forward?<\/p>\n

The Demons don\u2019t necessarily need a second club to create a market for Petracca because he is in-contract, so they have no need to agree to anything he wants. But a second club with eagerness to find a deal can only help ramp up the trade price.<\/p>\n

Essendon, meanwhile, are trying to attract players in a market where their best player and captain wants out because he\u2019s had a gutful<\/a>. That\u2019s a hard sell.<\/p>\n

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They will potentially get free agent Brayden Fiorini from the Suns, if he wants to go to them. Despite him being a free agent, Essendon would most likely do a low-level trade because they don\u2019t want to dilute their free agency compensation for losing Sam Draper.<\/p>\n

The Bombers also want Sam Flanders out of the Gold Coast, but the wrinkle there is that so, too, do St Kilda, and maybe Melbourne. Previously, the fact of St Kilda being interested would be like saying North are interested \u2013 of course they are, but that doesn\u2019t mean they get the player. But the mood around going to the Saints has shifted. Money will do that.<\/p>\n

Flanders is contracted to Gold Coast, and they are uninterested in trading him unless they bring a player in.<\/p>\n

That brings us to Jamie Elliott, who is still seriously weighing a Gold Coast offer. Collingwood increased their offer to more than $600,000 per year for two years in recent days. The Suns are offering more per year and an extra season.<\/p>\n

If Elliott went to the Suns, they would be more likely to trade Flanders out. The Suns are also eager to bring in James Rowbottom. That pair is their priority.<\/p>\n

Could Flanders get to Essendon? The Bombers are only offering picks No.20 and 21, which doesn\u2019t stack up against the Saints\u2019 offer of pick No.7. Would the Bombers be prepared to part with pick No.5? That might be contingent on what pick they get for Draper.<\/p>\n

It then falls back to where Flanders wants to go, and here is the thing: If he wanted to come to the Bombers, does it make them more open to the idea of trading Merrett? Probably not, because of what it still says about you as a club having your captain leave.<\/p>\n

But then that all might depend on how you read the room on Thursday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The broader question beyond Essendon, and for the rest of the clubs approaching trade period, is how long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-179713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179713","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=179713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}