Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nBOMBERS\u2019 BOLD OFFER TO FORMER CAPTAIN<\/p>\n
Despite Zach Merrett\u2019s well-documented desire to leave his club of 12 years last off-season, Essendon has reportedly offered the former captain a multi-year extension.<\/p>\n
AFL Media reported on Tuesday night that the Dons\u2019 deal would see Merrett paid roughly $1.1-1.2m a season, though did not specify whether the offer was until the end of 2029 or longer.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old is currently contracted until the end of 2027, and was denied his desperate bid to join Hawthorn last October.<\/p>\n
Essendon refused to deal with the Hawks\u2019 final offer of Picks No.10, No. 22, a future first-round selection and Henry Hustwaite, for Merrett and a future third-round selection in return.<\/p>\n
The three-time All-Australian was the biggest name this off-season to fail in his bid for a new home, with the likes of Charlie Curnow (Carlton to Sydney) and Christian Petracca (Melbourne to Gold Coast) making moves interstate.<\/p>\n
THREE-CLUB RACE OUT OF VICTORIA FOR STAR SUN<\/p>\n
An early read on the future of Gold Coast star Ben King has been revealed, with the restricted free agent remaining unsigned at the start of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
SEN\u2019s Tom Morris reported on Tuesday evening that the 25-year-old still remains likeliest to stay at the Suns beyond this year, but a trio of Victorian clubs remain firmly in the hunt for his services.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s made his mind up yet. People around him would love him to stay at the Suns for another two years,\u201d Morris told SEN\u2019s Locked In.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll give you a pie chart. Gold Coast are still very much (the favourites) … but, it\u2019s not a football decision. This comes down to a lifestyle decision for he and his partner as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cGold Coast are at 60 (per cent). Then, equally divided, are Collingwood, Hawthorn and Geelong … between 40 per cent, they\u2019re the three other clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Magpies\u2019 interest in King has long been documented, while the Cats were in the race for dual Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow last off-season, before he ultimately left for Sydney.<\/p>\n
King last signed a two-year extension at Gold Coast in December of 2024, and has kicked nine goals from his first two matches this season.<\/p>\n
Do the Cats have midfield depth issues? | 01:34<\/p>\n
STAR CAT\u2019S CONTRACT QUIRK<\/p>\n
A quirk within the contract of Geelong premiership hero Tyson Stengle has shed light on how clubs have recently been creative with the re-signing of their star players.<\/p>\n
Tom Morris revealed on SEN that Stengle has a best and fairest-related trigger in his current five-year deal, that would see him get to a sixth season if ticked off.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe signed a five-year extension according to the club; they don\u2019t really give out six-year deals the Cats, as far as I know. Even Jeremy Cameron got a five-year deal, plus triggers, when he went from the Giants,\u201d Morris said on Tuesday evening. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still a fair while from playing now … in the next month or two (he could return). If he does reach a certain position in a best-and-fairest in this timeline, he\u2019ll have a six-year deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The forward\u2019s deal was reported back in 2024 to be worth $3.5 million across the five seasons, working out to $700,000 per year.<\/p>\n
Stengle has had an interrupted pre-season as he deals with personal issues, with his return currently listed as \u2018individualised program\u2019 on Geelong\u2019s injury list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essendon has reportedly offered Zach Merrett a contract extension, despite his well-documeted desire to leave the club last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,11239,64,63,689,55,639,11295,1129,14385,11231,30520,270511,270509,1127,265112,13659,2105,2485,9130,12141,270508,270512,26596,18093,265097,673,677,270510,29107,701,85,670,1144,11236,82592,660],"class_list":["post-546176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-agency-news","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-king","tag-charlie-curnow","tag-damien-hardwick","tag-essendon-bombers","tag-five-year-deal","tag-football-decision","tag-four-club-read","tag-fox-footy","tag-game-panel","tag-geelong-cats","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-jeremy-cameron","tag-left-field-contract","tag-lifestyle-decision","tag-matt-roberts","tag-midfield-depth","tag-midfield-issues","tag-new-south-wales","tag-oceania","tag-pie-chart","tag-premiership-hero","tag-queensland","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-tom-morris","tag-trade-news","tag-tyson-stengle","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546176","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=546176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n