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BAILEY HUMPHREY<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cI reckon there\u2019s a little wriggle room that Gold Coast are really trying to rip shut. They\u2019re saying to Bailey: \u2018You\u2019re not going anywhere, we don\u2019t care\u2019. I think from the club\u2019s football boss and the club\u2019s CEO down, I think this is going to be a \u2018Zach Merrett-style line-in-the-sand \u2014 at least that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been told. <\/p>\n
\u201cClubs can obviously say one thing, and then they can change their mind. If I\u2019m Gold Coast: \u2018No, he\u2019s not going anywhere\u2019. He was better against Adelaide (last weekend) … if you open that door just a little bit ajar, he rips it open. And so, I think keep playing him and backing him in. Keep saying \u2018you\u2019re not going anywhere\u2019. Keep saying: \u2018Get your head around playing here for the rest of your football career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that decision (to possibly drop him) was three weeks ago, and they backed him in. He\u2019s been better since then, and if you\u2019re dropping him, you\u2019re probably dropping half the side. I think it\u2019s a philosophical thing to say to him: \u2018Whatever your issues are, whatever your challenges are, we\u2019re here to work with you. As soon as (they) start planting the seed, that\u2019s really dangerous… slam that door shut really hard on Bailey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben King (left) and Bailey Humphrey (right) at GMHBA Stadium, on June 12, 2026, in Geelong, Australia (Photo by Quinn Rooney\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
BEN KING<\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cWe thought he was staying not that long ago, Gold Coast thought he was staying not that long ago. But, now it looks like he\u2019s not staying … it\u2019s an awkward situation with Gold Coast thinking now he\u2019s probably going to leave and play out the rest of the year.<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cHow much do you think Max King influences this (a move to Victoria)? Max gets to go to the christenings, the birthdays, the weddings \u2014 all those different things. And even though he hasn\u2019t played any football recently, how challenging would that be for Ben to look at all those things he\u2019s missing out on right now?<\/p>\n
McFarlane says: \u201cCan he do another two years away from the stuff like that? It\u2019s really hard, and it looked like he was going to get through those two years, but he\u2019s not. I don\u2019t want him to come out and say: \u2018I\u2019m leaving this club now\u2019, I\u2019m old school in that regard.<\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cI\u2019m not sure they (Gold Coast) can win the premiership next year. They\u2019ve basically gone to a little list pivot to bring a lot of young kids in. Let\u2019s face it: if he stays, he\u2019s going to leave as an unrestricted free agent in two years. They might get something for him, but nowhere near as much. We\u2019re not writing off next year, but if you put all the investment in Ethan Read, hopefully Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, and of course Jed Walter who just signed up… I think the right thing right now, is say: \u2018Ben doesn\u2019t want to be here; we maximise our return.\u201d<\/p>\n
McFarlane says: \u201cIn fairness, he has stayed around while others have left. So, I\u2019m pretty comfortable if he makes that decision to come back (to Victoria).<\/p>\n
Lauren Wood says: \u201cI haven\u2019t really thought of it like that. You spend the early part of your career missing 18th\u2019s and 21st\u2019s that maybe aren\u2019t all that big of a deal. But, as you say, you start missing babies and weddings as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Max King (left) of the Saints and Ben King (right) of the Suns pose during the 2018 NAB AFL Draft at Marvel Stadium on November 22, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
ZACH MERRETT<\/p>\n
Lauren Wood says: \u201cHe\u2019s an interesting one to say the least with what played out last year \u2014 and then even what\u2019s played out this year. We saw position-wise on the weekend. Where do they play him from here? What do they do with him? I think we all think that Hawthorn is sitting there and waiting for Round 23 to come, and then they can start really pushing their case to Essendon. What are they doing with Merrett at the moment?<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cMy view is: Whatever happens in the next six weeks, is completely irrelevant. The clubs out there that know him and want him, they know exactly how good he can be. They know how good his season was early on, they know he\u2019s probably not trying now for all the right reasons. The best thing for Essendon would be for him to get through the next two weeks and get a little hamstring … Hawthorn and Sam Mitchell are not saying he\u2019s not trying right now. So, if he could play the next two weeks and get a little hamstring… that\u2019d be perfect. I\u2019m not suggesting he fakes it; I\u2019m just saying that\u2019s the best outcome. <\/p>\n
Wood says: \u201cSurely you do (that); particularly when that value has dropped away than what it was last year. You don\u2019t want to let it drop any further with a more major sort of injury. Could we potentially see that? With the way Essendon\u2019s playing at the moment, it\u2019s dire on many fronts… do they shelve him?<\/p>\n
Ralph says: \u201cIf they said to him: \u2018We want to warehouse you\u2019, I think he would still say: \u2018I\u2019m an Essendon player, and I want to finish my career off in the right way here … I think he gets a farewell game … even though a few other very good Essendon players didn\u2019t get that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essendon\u2019s Zach Merrett (left) shakes hands with Hawthorn\u2019s Blake Hardwick (right) after their 2026 AFL Round 1 match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 13, 2026 (Photo by Michael Willson via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
JORDAN RIDLEY<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cRidley is fascinating. Part of me feels they need to warehouse him, because he\u2019s made of crepe paper. And then part of me feels like, if they do that, well people will say he\u2019s no good anymore. He played that one amazing game against Melbourne (in Gather Round) when he came back from his calf issues, and we said to ourselves: \u2018this bloke\u2019s a star\u2019. But right now, he\u2019s played a couple of okay games and then he\u2019s been managed again. So, I\u2019m stuck right in the middle \u2014 because if he plays great football, it maximises his worth. And if he gets injured again, well it diminishes. <\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cI\u2019d be warehousing him, absolutely. The bottom line is, for all parties, if he came up and did another injury, that\u2019s just too much of a stretch. So, I\u2019m happy to warehouse him at this stage, if he\u2019s happy to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ridley warms up during the Round 15 AFL match between Essendon Bombers and West Coast Eagles at Marvel Stadium, on June 23, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia (Photo by Quinn Rooney\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
LACHIE NEALE<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cIf he plays and wins a third premiership, that would be three flags, four best and fairests, two Brownlows – everything you could ever want in this football club \u2014 he\u2019s just a megastar. He\u2019ll go and give us some amazing line on the premiership dais, and then he\u2019ll go to Collingwood…<\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cThe bottom line with Lachie Neale, he\u2019s been out there performing through a lot of heat, and a lot of pressure. This has been going on since December last year… and he\u2019s continued to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the AFL season heads into its final quarter before finals, questions over the futures of a host…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-801705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801705","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=801705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}