Essendon's monster Zach Merrett trade proposal to Hawthorn revealed

Jake Beddard

•
Essendon's monster Zach Merrett trade proposal to Hawthorn revealed image

Zach Merrett (we presume) sat quietly at home in disappointment, watching stars of the competition such as Charlie Curnow, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver get their way and find new homes. He, unfortunately for him, did not find his way to Hawthorn like he hoped.

In fairness to the Hawks, it would appear there was not much they could have done to tempt Essendon, aside from basically giving them their entire future.

According to Nine's Tom Morris, the Bombers were asking for a monster haul in exchange for their captain, which included picks 10 and 22 in this year's draft, as well as two future first-round picks and a future second-round pick.

"Essendon wanted four first round picks and a second rounder for Zach Merrett. 10, 22, 2026 F1, 2027 F1 + a 2026 2nd rounder," Morris reported on X on Wednesday night.

MORE: Big names stay: Which AFL trades fell over on the final day?

The offer proved to be a fair way off what the Hawks ended up offering, which was picks 10 and 22, a future first-round pick and Henry Hustwaite, in exchange for Merrett and a future third-rounc pick, according to AFL.com.au's Cal Twomey.

While Essendon's proposal would insinuate that they weren't ever really interested in entertaining a trade, Bombers legend James Hird has said it's a sign of strength being shown from the club's new leadership, which includes new president Andrew Welsh.

"For me it was strong by Andrew Welsh. I think he said all along that he wasn't gonna trade Zach Merrett, and I think he's come in as the president and said 'Right, I'm gonna draw a line in the sand. This club is gonna be run in a certain way,'" Hird said on Footy Furnace on Wednesday night.

 

Jake Beddard

Jake Beddard is a contributing Wires Writer at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia.