Sam Edmund -
“He wants to play in a successful side that can play finals and maybe win a flag. He’s been (at Essendon) for 12 years.
“We know it’s not about money, it’s purely about success and about winning. And he’s to blow up to do it.”
Phfft 
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Now you know why car salesman Tommy P was so animated! $$$$
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He’ll repair fine with the playing group I think but his time at the club is over. He won’t retain the captaincy I don’t think but he will still be a good player for us next season. I suspect Tom Petroro is already in contact with a few more clubs about getting Zach out of Essendon and we’d be naive if we weren’t planning our future without him.
The fans won’t forgive and forget that quickly. He’ll be getting some feedback from fans when he plays; especially round 1 when we inevitably play Hawthorn! But that relationship is broken for the most part.
It’s quite a sad end to his time at Essendon to be frank. The only person who he can really blame for this is himself. What should have been a great club story and legacy will end up as a cautionary tale instead.
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Feel a tight calf coming on
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Agreed with all of that well said.
I’m still fuming at the cheek of Hawthorn to say that they’re wrapping their arms around Zach and going to stay in contact to ensure that he’s coping ok. Stay in your own fking lane you parasite scum.
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Geez! Who ■■■■■■ in her cereal?!
I don’t think the relationship between Zac and the fans will be an issue. I’ve spoken to a fair few Bomber supporting people (friends, family and work colleagues with varying levels of EFC enegagement) over the past few weeks. The were all in the range of indifferent to wanting him to stay.
I think Blitz is a pretty skewed view of the general EFC fan.
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I’d imagine there’s a 95% chance he’ll requests a trade next year.
Can’t wait for the year-long circus. Hopefully Rosa and co have a really clear idea of what he’s going to be worth one year on.
Can we still get him out via the PSD?
After they had got a couple of players involved.
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Bro he is 100% getting booed everytime we lose and everytime he misses a kick.
We’re feral. We’re all feral.
Sports gambling plus 20 years of pain. Not a good combo.
So a deal that would take Merrett to 35.
Don’t think being 30 was ever the issue.
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Dan has actually exposed this charade for what it was.
Managers and media undermining clubs now has evidence.
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I’m expecting a terrible start to the season. Similar to this past season.
It’ll be the opposite of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
That’s why I think we’ll sack Scott. I doubt the board dig in and hold on to him if it goes as bad as I think it will. If we’ve learned anything from the last 20 years, boards will go into a ‘self preservation’ mode when attendances begin dropping off. I’m fully expecting board challenges too if this plays out the way I think. How successful or how resistant the board is will depend on how the rest could occur.
I’m confident regardless, of coaching change or not, that we’ll then ‘improve’ in the last six weeks of the season. It will be from a low base, but it will improve. Similar to the 2010s where we fall in a heap early and get a bit of momentum late as a few players have break out games and become more consistent along the way. That’s how a typical rebuilding team developments. More often than not, it doesn’t just shoot to the stars out of nowhere.
That should leave the club with a positive spin to work with through the 2026/27 pre-season for another coach to take us to whatever we think the next step is.
If a board challenge occurs and we have a repeat of 2022, then there will be an exodus and we won’t attract anything. No Butters, not mid level talent. It’ll be back to broken players on their last chance like Weideman and Setterfield. And the exodus is not just Merrett, but others. And rightly so. If a club can’t stick with a plan for four years, then what’s to say they can stick with one to build a sustainable club? Why bother waiting around for Essendon to turn when you can go to another club and instantly have better prospects (albeit not ensuring ultimate success)?
Just like fans don’t have trust in the club, players will not either. Especially ones who have been there for the last five years. The ones that stick around will do so because they have no other opportunities and probably need gametime just to gain an opportunity.
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Good that a few in the media have made comments on the leaked stories about Essendon coming from the Merrett camp.
The one about the illicit drug meeting was a low point but also, backfired on them too I suppose.
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It will take time though.
I wouldn’t be expecting the fruits of that labour to be evident till 2027 onwards.
Right now we are a casualty ward.
Do you have a clip of him realising he shouldn’t have been reading something verbatim? I missed that one.
Someone on BF said Petroro manages both Caddy and Kako, true?