You trolling or genuinely asking? I posted the article upthread.
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just imagine an article based on that headline, itâll be better written
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LOL to think that the B and F will have any impact at all.
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Sorry I genuinely missed it. Thanks for posting.
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I hope everyone booâs the â â â â out of him at the Crichton to strengthen his resolve.
I still believe we are stupid enough to hold him and Welsh strikes me as the chief of the idiots.
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If I was Rosa Iâd make our whole LM team wear T shirts that say â8+F1+Mackenzieâ everyday of trade period.
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We are so banned next year
How an annual club best-and-fairest night could shape the whole AFL trade period
Michael Gleeson
Privately, clubs other than Essendon say Zach Merrett canât go back to the Bombers, and donât expect him to be there next year given the relationship has so soured itâs untenable for him to return.
Privately, and publicly, Essendon say itâs easy, and self-serving, for those opposition clubs to say that. The Bombers insist the long-term contracted star is going nowhere.
That brings us to Thursday nightâs Crichton Medal. Merrett has to walk back into the club he supposedly leads but wants to leave. At some point of the night, the captain will inevitably stand up and accept his sixth Crichton Medal. And then what does he say? âHow âbout those Hawks?â
Essendon players have made their feelings known about their captain meeting at the popular new eastern suburbs cafe-bar known as âSamâs placeâ. But they have, or will, get over him sitting around Sam Mitchellâs kitchen table and plotting how he can move to Hawthorn. Players are typically more forgiving and understanding of teammates, especially when it comes to contracts and trades.
Essendon management, and likewise their board, who have said to Merrett, âYeah, nah, not happening, see you back for pre-seasonâ will try to act like all that trade nonsense is behind them.
On Thursday night, those players and officials will take an all-is-forgiven approach to Merrett and if not wrap their arms around him, then at least shake his hand, have a beer and try to act normal.
The more telling aspect will be how forgiving the rest of the room is. This is the real, hardcore Essendon â more so than the players, executive or board. What do they think?
Some will sympathise with Merrett, that he has given everything and year after year has been let down by the club, so they wonât blame him wanting out and accept that enough is enough. Others will say, âSuck it up, you are contractedâ.
The broader question beyond Essendon, and for the rest of the clubs approaching trade period, is how long do the Hawks wait for the Bombers to blink? How long do they hold out for Merrett? He is their priority, but, in terms of elite midfielders, Christian Petracca is now dangling tantalisingly once more.
Last week it became clear to Petracca that getting out of Melbourne was best for him, and Melbourne were content for him to look around. On Sunday night his manager, Anna Scullie, rang her husband Eddie Bettsâ old club Adelaide â the club where Petraccaâs close mate Alex Neal-Bullen shifted to last year â and told them he was coming over on Monday.
The fact Petracca flew to Adelaide for these meetings only weeks after a new senior Melbourne coach was appointed suggests Petraccaâs heartburn with Melbourne runs deeper than a new coach and the die had already been cast (maybe for club and player) long before Steven King was appointed.
It might indicate that King either could not change Petraccaâs mind, or that he also took the view that a fresh start was needed for club and player. So, if Petracca wants out, then go, but only on our terms. The Demonsâ view was for him to meet the Crows, but also be prepared to eat crow if it doesnât happen.
Ideally, now is when Melbourne want Gold Coast to jump into the Petracca market.
The Suns are interested but, while Petracca has met with Damien Hardwick once, there has been no indication this week of wanting to meet with the club.
Melbourne want Gold Coast in the fray because theyâd really like Bailey Humphrey and, if he were to be available in a trade, then a deal for Petracca could be done. The Demons really want Humphrey. Again. They wanted him in his draft year, and they have wanted him each year since he went to the Gold Coast.
Humphrey is also wanted by nine other Victorian clubs, and several others interstate. But, more importantly, he is wanted by the club he is contracted to play for over the next three years. Gold Coast are not interested to parting with Humphrey for Petracca or anyone else.
Which brings us back to Hawthorn. The Hawks will have a point at which they might have to accept what Essendon say and give up on getting Merrett, and contemplate Petracca or others. They are not there yet. And besides that, presently, other clubs are wondering if Petracca to Adelaide is a boat race.
The Crichton Medal night then could be decisive in what happens next and the ongoing appetite at Essendon for keeping their captain, or at least the chap who was captain this season, for it is unlikely that, even if he stays, Essendon or Merrett would want him to be captain next season.
If the Hawks pivot to Petracca, and they can entice him to talk to them (at the very least the chef might be attracted to a meal at Samâs Place, given itâs a very popular eatery), then what does that look like for them in a trade? What do Hawthorn have to give up to turn Melbourneâs head? A key forward?
The Demons donât necessarily need a second club to create a market for Petracca because he is in-contract, so they have no need to agree to anything he wants. But a second club with eagerness to find a deal can only help ramp up the trade price.
Essendon, meanwhile, are trying to attract players in a market where their best player and captain wants out because heâs had a gutful. Thatâs a hard sell.
They will potentially get free agent Brayden Fiorini from the Suns, if he wants to go to them. Despite him being a free agent, Essendon would most likely do a low-level trade because they donât want to dilute their free agency compensation for losing Sam Draper.
The Bombers also want Sam Flanders out of the Gold Coast, but the wrinkle there is that so, too, do St Kilda, and maybe Melbourne. Previously, the fact of St Kilda being interested would be like saying North are interested â of course they are, but that doesnât mean they get the player. But the mood around going to the Saints has shifted. Money will do that.
Flanders is contracted to Gold Coast, and they are uninterested in trading him unless they bring a player in.
That brings us to Jamie Elliott, who is still seriously weighing a Gold Coast offer. Collingwood increased their offer to more than $600,000 per year for two years in recent days. The Suns are offering more per year and an extra season.
If Elliott went to the Suns, they would be more likely to trade Flanders out. The Suns are also eager to bring in James Rowbottom. That pair is their priority.
Could Flanders get to Essendon? The Bombers are only offering picks No.20 and 21, which doesnât stack up against the Saintsâ offer of pick No.7. Would the Bombers be prepared to part with pick No.5? That might be contingent on what pick they get for Draper.
It then falls back to where Flanders wants to go, and here is the thing: If he wanted to come to the Bombers, does it make them more open to the idea of trading Merrett? Probably not, because of what it still says about you as a club having your captain leave.
But then that all might depend on how you read the room on Thursday night, and more importantly what BomberBlitz has to say about it.
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Gleeson is all over the place. So many tangents and sidebars lol.
Did he actually write the line about Blitz? Lmao.
Also, our two first rounders are equal in capital to pick 10 off the top of my head. Gold Coast want capital more than another pick in the 10s theyd then have to try turn into capital elsewhere. The difference between our offer and the Saints draft offer isnât so big.
Surely Petracca is a lesson we need to learn.
Yes they kept him at the end of last year. But at what cost? Their season was a train wreck, their star studded midfield failing to perform. Coach sacked after wheels completely fell off, in a year that they were so confident that they traded away their F1. And then a year later and Trac still wants out.
So, yeah we could keep Merret but it would be counterproductive on a number of levels.
See also Joe Dan.
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Hey Zach!
Leave.
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Yep Iâm with you. Also need to watch more Duursma highlights.
I really like a lot of players rated in the top 10-15 but then every phantom draft (and all the draft hawks on here) have him at 1. Not sure how big the leap is though and what it would cost to trade up.
I guess this is more in a hypothetical where Hawks trade for another first in the 10-12ish range, and we accept that + 8 for Merrett. Get band one compo for Draper (hopefully).
Idk. Strong draft hand already, more coming in, tight list spots, WCE connections through Rosa/Vozzo⌠depending on what happens with Merrett (& Draper compo), I can see us trading up for Duursma.
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Letâs see what they get at the trade table first before concluding anything on their decision. I doubt Trac leaving last season would have changed what happened to them this season anyway.
Not to say we shouldnât jettison Zerrett.
I find this a real positive in keeping Merrett
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You lot are all far more professional than me.
Iâd strip him of the captaincy
Not trade him
Refuse him entry to the club.
Go about becoming the best footy side we can given those circumstances.
I really would rather a group of footy players who know how to hold a grudge.
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When I was in the workforce, Iâd look every year at opportunities, what I could earn, where Iâd rather work. Merrett is doing the same. Good on him especially given the shithole that is Essendon. Itâs only a job after all.
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Uncalled for champ. Some of our kids need it to get through the day.
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Were you part of why the workplace was â â â â ?
Were you contracted?
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I think Merretâs ahead of his time and looking after himself as the future players will (and should, imo) be. Irrespective of club circumstances.
Heâll set a new precedent and threshold of whatâs considered acceptable in FA and weâre set to benefit from the uproar of a contracted captain leaving in such context.
He wonât be the last, cash in Dons.
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