I think Zach should have gone purely on the grounds of turning the Zach Merrett thread into an industrial relations thread.
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No, I think itās industry talk for a long Friday brunch.
The afternoon is going to be filled with a ālong discussion of sales reports and financial returnsā (aka: session at the pub).
But are they allowed to drink within earshot of the competition?
Unfortunately not.
Itās a same day turnaround up to Brisbane for a meeting. The biggest gripe with my job as it can be boring as batshit and could be done on a 60 min zoom call.
Worst part is if it was done next week I couldāve gone to the test and stayed up there a night or two
I dont know why people are getting so upset over this. It happens in certain industries and situations all the time.
Nothing special about it, not for all scenarios.
Some still upset that we didnāt trade him.
Keeping Zac is more about the club making a stand that you cant ask for trade whilst under contract sends a message to the rest of the playing list.
If he asks for a trade again i hope we hold him to his contract thatās unless Weedle is part of a straight swap otherwise no deal Hawks.
You want out Zac you can wait till your contract is up in 2027
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Except he was adamant he would only go to the Hawks. Completely the opposite of Curnow who got his wish
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I mean it is pretty comprehensive IP in that regardā¦
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Welcome back Nino. This is an extremely sensible take. Donāt tell me I am going to agree with new Nino.
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Iām not so sure he will be a āniceā captain. Players last year said it was McGrath, not Merrett, that baked them out. They also nominated him as the best senior player to go to for advice. Hopefully heās the type of captain who praises good performances and calls out poor ones.
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Good to have you back, Nino!
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Welcome back mate give them hell
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consistent with the threadā¦ @Finding_Nino - New Beginnings
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I think if he wanted to leave next year weād be silly from a culture perspective to keep him plus weād be hurting ourselves by not taking the trade capital we could receive.
Even if i dont agree with it I understand why we took the stand we did with him this year. If we cant convince him in another 12 months to stay then thatās on us and its in our best interest to clear him out and get the best deal we can.
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Apart from sending a message, I still think keeping Merret was potentially a smart move although not necessarily guaranteed
He was somewhat disruptive at the end of this season, but really only after it had ended. He wanted out and did his best to force our hand. None of that was likeable.
If we drafted too heavily and got rid of Merrett, sure we end up with lots of exciting new talent with potential, but hell we havenāt covered ourselves in glory in developing new talent have we. In fact we have developed the ability to turn reasonably high 1st round picks into delistings. So the last thing we want to do is ruin a bunch of new recruits.
There is no evidence whatsoever to indicate Zach will be a problem culturally internally during the season. He is touted as being the ultimate professional, and will play hard and play to win. Nothing wrong with that.
The only issue will be the noise from the outside, casting opinions, but he club should be able to insulate themselves from the external noise and focus on what they are trying to achieve.
Zach will probably want out again at the end of this season, but if the club is smart it will have made a gentlemenās agreement with him, to be the best version of himself, and if he holds up his end of the bargain, we trade him in a better organised deal, everyone with their eyes open.
Having Zach here will help the development of the new recruits. If we decide to hold him until the end of his contract Zach may leave for nothing at the end of 2027. He is unlikely to be so disruptive at the end of 2026 because he knows the backlash he will get having experienced it this year, so he is likely to be smarter about it next time.
So, in the end, he may be worth more to us as a catalyst for development as opposed to having an influx of young talent which we canāt harness effectively.
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Citation needed.
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Captain Benjamin L. Willard:
Whoās the commanding officer here, soldier?
Infantryman:
Aināt you?
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Our poor development program is not a reason to not bring in exciting new talent. We should shut the doors if we dont back ourselves to improve on that with the resources we put into it.
What gives me mild hope that we will still receive a reasonable offer is that Petrecca is only 3ish months younger and garnered a substantial trade (admittedly GC had picks falling outta their ass).
No doubt Merrett will largely be the consummate professional knowing we will eventually come around to trading him next season.
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Nope, but having a below par coach is.
can anyone say with absolute certainty that nino isnāt zac merrett?