Agreed.
If you want to ignore the other aspects of the trade, then sure it doesnât look good.
But outside of the top 5 prospects, the draft evens out in the top 30
We already have picks in the 20+ range so they have no value to us.
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Applause to Trac having multiple options
Applause to Curnow for having multiple options
Zach. Hawks only, with a Hawks team who wanted to limp in unders⌠that wonât float.
Learning exercise for those trying to get out when contracted.. be open minded or risk your team of choice not having the assets or want to find those assets to get it done.
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This whole trade period really does seem like a missed opportunity to reset the list, get in some early picks and change the direction.
really strange vibes.
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this is a good analysis of deals where comparison is very difficult. Iâd have a different starting assumption ie
hawks finishing 4th v swans missing finals => swans future picks valued higher than hawks
my guess is the deal for merrett was close to what we required, but they needed to replace HH with a player we wanted, or add in 2027 1st.
as we guessed, the no trade public posture was a negotiating position, and the reality is everything is for sale for the right price.
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I do understand your frustration and I agree that this non-deal doesnât help us at all; in fact it will almost certainly set us back a few years. There is no doubt this entire situation has been an absolute copy book of how not to trade! It starts with Hawthorn using underhand tactics to turn the playerâs head; the player they decided to do that with just happened to be their fiercest rivals captain and best player (by a mile). Then they decided to leak that they had met with them in an attempt to de-stabilise the relationship between the captain and club (arguably the only successful outcome). Oh, and all this after the player had only a few weeks prior to this announced live on air that he was all in with his club too! Then our club decided to stand firm by telling Merrett he wasnât going to be traded and then doubled down by sending every member a memo repeating the line. Trade period arrives and Hawthorn, having already promised Zach they would get him to their club, seemingly do nothing; offer nothing; make no moves whatsoever until the Monday before deadline and simply offer their picks and a player they will surely delist in 2026. We stand firm saying no deal and this one wheeled rickshaw of a deal keels over and dies because Hawthorn literally put no work internally in putting something utterly compelling that would have surely made us blink. The most work they did was swapping pick 9 for 10 and 22! On our part we too just dug in our heels and pretended there was nothing to see here despite it being made very clear he wanted out. When that first offer came in then was the time for the club to make itâs case to Petroro on why 4 first round picks would be needed if a decent young player couldnât be added to the offer; or start negotiating with other clubs to package picks together to either guarantee another top 10 pick or another future 1st to add to our one and Hawthornâs one. That would have given us 3 top 10 picks this year and three first rounders next year. In the end we have nothing but frustration and contempt. Merrett will have to slink back into our club; into an already tenuous âcultureâ with risk he damages things even more. He will be the consummate professional Iâve no doubt about that but knowing Brad, this betrayal (he will see it as this) will mean Merrett playing on the fringes of the team and even getting dropped for not tying his laces correctly or something dumb like that! As for Hawthorn (not that I give a â â â â ), I think theyâve got work to do to convince players and player managers that they can actually close a deal anymore! This will scar them and hurt their chances of landing bigger fish such as Butters or Humphrey next year I suspect.
The tl;dr version is this is a step-by-step guide on how to â â â â up a trade by Hawthorn and Essendon!
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You only have to see the all hands on deck style of Connors and Dorazio. When push comes to shove they get their high value clients where they want to go.
90% of the work is done behind the scenes with the rest just for the cameras. Petroro clearly completely botched this trade considering how far apart the two clubs were.
Reading between the lines, we asked for MacKenzie, but he rejected us. Given Hustwaite was publicly named in a deal twice, we can only assume we had interest
we wouldnât have picked 3 players though.
we didnât have list spots.
would have traded up or out of draft.
we needed more future picks IMO - 2027 first and 2026 F2 added
If your Hawks - your probably thinking should have put a 2027 first onto the deal.
They stuffed up massively leaving to the last minute hoping we were bluffing.
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Sydney + Curnow Iâd expect to be in the 8. So their 2027 1st factoring Tassie concessions is likely to be in the 20s⌠will be ballpark to pick 22.
10 is obviously same same with 11.
Sydneyâs 2026 1st not far behind Hawthorneâs 2026 1st.
The three primary picks for both are ballpark.
Obviously Hustwaite not equivalent to Hayward, but Carlton also handed back 2 x 2nd round picks (disregarding the 2027 one).
The deals are very close.
Sorry I disagree completely.
We have plenty of early draft picks if we get them right.
What we need to do is start winning a few games by getting games into the young talent we do have.
if we nail the draft through good recruiting the next couple of years and develop a winning culture we will attract players.
and once your attracting good players you can build a side to move up the ladder.
the four sides which dramatically improved their list this off season were Brisbane, Sydney, GWS, StKilda and the Gold Coast.
we need to find a couple like the saints have and then hopefully attract A grade talent to our club.
And we might have already. If Reid finally gets right, Caddy and Kako keep moving on the right trajectory and our draft haul this year has a bit of talent in it
It feels to me that because we supposedly had interest early in the year ( media speculation, not confirmed) then Hawthorn just presumed that we would still have interest in a Merrett context.
We donât know the truth here. Likewise, we donât know the genesis of the decision by Hawthorn to chase pick 22. To me, it feels like they just made assumptions about things that we couldnât possibly decline (in their eyes) without ever once actually checking what would definitely get the job done, or believing us when we said we wouldnât trade. But thatâs just reading the tea leaves on my part.
No matter which way to you lean on whether we should or shouldnât have traded him, both Hawthorn and Petroroâs actions through this have been bizarre.
Contrast it to us, North and Duursma. We were clearly interested, North clearly said no and we realised that we didnât have the capability to get it done so didnât waste everyones time.
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It blows my mind that our list is so bereft of top end talent, but I keep reading that weâre stuck for list spots. Really? I get we had to take heaps in the mid season, but making spots on our list should be like shooting fish in a barrel.
Another reason this trade period feels like a massive fail.
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oh well, now we get to look forward to the painful âhubby got caught cheating but weâre going to make it work because our odds of each finding someone better are fk allâ public reconciliation over the coming weeks
heavy filtered gritted teeth instagram selfies, joint facebook account, etc
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FFS what part of this draft is â â â â do people not get?!?
Would u trade our pick 6 for their 10/11 ?
Trade 21, 27 for 15.
5,10,11,15 and sweid.
Iâm not sure they can do that when our public statements are that we werenât trading him?
And is was reported a few times that our âstrategyâ was to sit back and force Hawthorn to come hard with a single offer
NO Club is going to make a huge offer for a 31yo with one year left on his contract when that player can leave as an unrestricted free agent the year after.
Bookmark it. Essendon will be offered sfa next year, or receive nothing if Merrett leaves for free at end if 2027.
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Hawks had a lot of time to get this right and they blew it.
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