Let’s see if it survives one match day thread.
Almost criminally negligent… putting players under extreme physical duress and limiting their medical access. Can you limit someone’s access to treatment for concussion problems?
The Footy Boss: An in-depth look at all aspects of the Essendon Football Club
From the Zach Merrett non-trade and list management to high performance and the front office — former Carlton footy boss Brad Lloyd has unpacked the entire Essendon Football Club.
Brad Lloyd
10 min read
October 23, 2025 - 5:00AM
News Sport Network
AFL: Zach Merrett’s bid to join the Hawks has fallen through.
Essendon’s trade period was dominated by the future of Zach Merrett, who eventually wasn’t traded to Hawthorn.
I thought new Bombers president Andrew Welsh handled the situation well having just entered the top job and in the end the trade offer from Hawthorn just didn’t make enough sense to send Merrett away.
Everybody in footy is wondering how Merrett will go in returning to the club but in my experience, it won’t take too long to get past the issue and on with the job.
Essendon is the first club I will take an in-depth look at from the football general manager perspective and look at key points such as list management, the fitness staff and how the front office is shaping the operations of each club.
Zach Merrett has an interesting year ahead. Picture: Getty Images.
THE MERRETT NON-TRADE
One thing I have noticed in football is I am often shocked with how quickly players and clubs can move on.
Whether it is coaches leaving or players leaving or staying, or when a scandal breaks, clubs are really good at communicating internally and getting on with the job.
I’ve had circumstances where the club has had a big event like a senior coach sacking and players were extremely resilient and the best thing was to get back into training.
Suddenly they pick up energy and they move forward reasonably quickly.
There will be an elephant in the room at Essendon heading into pre-season and sometimes the player will want to say a few words in the first team meeting, then everybody can switch focus. I think this will be a necessary step so all can move forward quickly.
A situation like Merrett’s failed trade can actually be more difficult for the supporters because they don’t actually get to have that same discussion and it falls on the club to facilitate that messaging externally.
I don’t think he could have done a lot more for the club. I think everybody internally would understand that, it is probably more heartbreak from the supporters that he may not want to be there, which can be devastating for the fans.
The Essendon faithful are hurt by Merrett’s actions. Picture: Getty Images
These things can get a bit ugly when a player decides he has hit age 30 and his window is closing to play finals, given he is such a driven player. I think deep down a lot of people would have an understanding of his thought process with it all. But at the end of the day, he has signed a long-term agreement with the club and the club has made decisions along the way to support him.
In this case, It is Essendon’s option whether to release him or not and in the end the offer needed to be better than the alternative of keeping him on board.
Merrett’s manager Tom Petroro made it clear on trade deadline day that Merrett would be keen to again ask for a trade at the end of the 2026 season but I think those comments are made in the moment. There is a lot that plays out between now and next year.
I’ve seen a number of players, one in particular hellbent on leaving and committed to coming to our club and a trade falling over, they returned to their club and have since been a great teammate and brought high-energy for that club. They settled back in and became a player that wasn’t movable the following year.
Trades are a perfect storm at times, and circumstances change. The player may not want to leave a year later and the club chasing him may have moved on to a different target as well.
Whether it was the right decision or not, I think it was a stabilising call for Essendon to hold their ground after everything they went through and not trade Merrett.
Essendon list boss Matt Rosa says Zach Merrett trade talks were ‘uncomfortable’ as a deal between the Bombers and Hawks was unable to be reached.
When you are trading your best player and sending him to a top-eight club like Hawthorn, a move that is certainly going to make them better, and in return you are getting their first round picks and hoping they slide, it just doesn’t make sense.
The fact he wanted to go to a club on the high end of the ladder and their picks are probably only going to get worse from a draft sense.
If it was a bottom club it would have been something that was more attractive, so for me, the deal fell short for Essendon with all they had going on.
It seemed Essendon did have an openness to trade late but they only wanted an offer that was too good to refuse, when the Bombers asked for four first rounders for Merrett.
Trading with another club is all about understanding what their needs are and Essendon’s needs were high-end draft picks.
The change of presidency happening during the Merrett situation is rare and it meant the Bombers went from a position that was quite unstable to a galvanising one under new president Andrew Welsh.
I took notice of some comments from Craig Vozzo about the lateness of the offer from Hawthorn. This deal between the Hawks and Merrett has been in the works for a long time, and tensions would have been high so it’s important to communicate as much as possible and give that time wherever possible.
Merrett’s manager Tom Petroro did his best to get a deal done
It is a hard situation for the Merrett camp. You are trying to be as strong as possible to give yourself a chance to get to your destination and at the same time, the club you are dealing with needs a level of courtesy to feel comfortable and respected to eventually want to do the deal. When you are good to people in trade situations they can open up a bit more to help facilitate a deal.
Even on trade deadline day you need time to tick off to those above you what a deal may look like so everybody can understand it.
For the football GM and list manager in that situation, you have got your boundaries you are working within that has been agreed to internally that you can do for the trade.
You often have the coach there and you are communicating with him and the CEO. You and the CEO are often managing up whether that is football directors, board members and the media team – nobody wants to be surprised.
So if anything pops up outside what has been agreed to there needs to be a level of comfort for those outside of the room and you have to get on the phone quickly.
As the dust settles on the trade period, I think a lot of clubs would think Essendon has done a bit of a favour for the competition and would be quietly happy with how it all played out. It was an option to retain a player despite a request to move and it puts players on notice that they can be held if they are under contract.
As much as Merrett tried to get out, now things flip quickly to how Essendon can support him. There was some rationale and reasoning behind his decision making but now he is an Essendon player and everybody needs to get behind him and support him and come from a welfare angle for him.
Brayden Fiorini was the Bombers’ only addition in the trade period. Picture: Essendon FC
Sam Draper is a loss, but hasn’t been able to stay on the park. Picture: Getty Images
THE PLAYING LIST
IN: Brayden Fiorini (Gold Coast)
OUT: Sam Draper (Brisbane), Alwyn Davey Jr, Todd Goldstein, Jayden Laverde, Jye Menzie, Dylan Shiel, Oscar Smartt, Ben Hobbs, Luamon Lual (delisted).
The Bombers value Brayden Fiorini’s running ability going both ways and there have been good wraps on his leadership capacity at the Suns.
Every time I have heard the Essendon list management team talk they mention ‘character’ and that is clearly a priority for them at this point.
That’s a reflection that they are building their list still and want to build it around good quality people and competitors, which may also be a reflection on the instability that has been around the club of late. All clubs want good characters but clearly this is top-of-mind for the Bombers.
Sam Draper, who moved to Brisbane as a free agent, is a talented player and obviously is a loss but he didn’t play a lot of footy this year, only tallying five games.
He has only had one year of regular senior footy, when he played 22 matches in 2022.
As part of contract negotiations you do factor in durability – you have to weigh up the capacity of a player and their output as well.
Essendon‘s ruck stocks have taken a hit. Picture: Getty Images
LIST GAPS
Having a look through the Essendon list, it is a bit limited in the ruck now that Draper has gone, I don’t see another recognisable ruckman, especially with Nick Bryan returning from a knee injury and Todd Goldstein now gone.
There is a hole there for the Bombers to fill, whether that is through an experienced body in the draft or over summer.
Everyone is pretty clear on where Essendon sits. They are trying to stabilise at the moment and keep getting enough talent into the club and keep building the right way.
As a football GM you are often the mouthpiece for the club and you are working pretty closely with the executive and the media team to deliver those messages and support the coach so they are not doing it on their own. You want to be pretty transparent where you can and provide the fans with the right information where you can. Having watched some of list manager Matt Rosa’s work, he has done a pretty good job with that over that trade period.
Nate Caddy is a special talent
LIST STRENGTHS
Essendon is still clearly building its list but has found a good pairing in youngsters Isaac Kako and Nate Caddy. Caddy looks like a player who can hold up the forward line for the next decade. He brings athleticism and energy to the Essendon attack and looks like a player they can build around. Small forwards are so valuable and Kako, even at the start of his career, has shown he can hold down that spot.
DRAFT HAND
Picks — 5, 6, 21, 27, 30
Holding two picks in such a prime position of the draft just really means clubs need to go around you.
They will have a number of clubs that will come at them and now the Bombers have plenty of flexibility.
They could use the picks themselves or could use one pick and split into multiple players. It leaves them in a pretty valuable position.
Salary cap – Given their rebuilding phase, the Bombers appear to have room to move in the salary cap going forward.
The Bombers had an injury crisis in 2025. Picture: Getty Images
HIGH PERFORMANCE CHECK IN
Essendon obviously had one of the biggest injury lists in the AFL this year and while some were knee and achilles injuries, there were a lot of soft tissue setbacks like calf and hamstring problems.
They made a call late in the season to bring in the highly-rated Mat Inness who was very well regarded at the Western Bulldogs and went to West Coast and has now come back to Victoria. His brother Rob is the Carlton high performance manager and from all reports Mat is a quality person and knows his stuff.
High performance bosses are the biggest figures in football clubs outside the senior coach, they spend so much time with the players.
Each fitness coach comes to the job with a different view, some might have more of an endurance focus and others will worry about getting more speed and strength into the program.
Matthew Inness has joined the Dons. Picture: Michael Klein.
When you plan out a pre-season, the program through the off-season is overseen by the GM of football and designed by the senior coach, the HP manager who runs the majority of pre-season in conjunction with what the senior coach needs.
They come with different styles but the personalities of the best high performance managers are the ones that make people believe in what they are doing and make the player think they can do anything on the field.
There needs to be time given to Inness and his new team because they are working with the same bodies that filled the injury list in 2025.
History shows players who have good pre-seasons more often than not have good years of footy so clearly they will be focused under Mat of having a really good, durable pre-season.
Daniel Giansiracusa has joined Brown and Gold family as our new Head of Development.
Welcome Daniel! https://t.co/WeZ3To1sYr
— Hawthorn FC (@HawthornFC) October 3, 2025
THE COACH’S BOX
Assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa moved on from Essendon to Hawthorn to head up their development.
I’m sure the Bombers would have been disappointed to lose him given he has been one of the highly touted coaches in the competition and appears in line to be a future senior coach.
I have been impressed with his football intellect, he is a younger, modern day coach who is a good people person and appears to be innovative and always keen to grow.
Essendon president Andrew Welsh. Picture: Supplied
THE FRONT OFFICE
Back in the day I was a player manager and Andrew Welsh was one of the clients at our company so I first crossed paths with him all the way back when he was playing for the Calder Cannons, before he was drafted in 2001.
As a player, Essendon’s new president was a very good teammate and you could see he was a loyal person who had really strong values but he also had a work ethic about him.
He is not a conservative type, he is the type to have a go at things.
I think he will be a popular president and he spoke really well in the early interviews he has done. He is a very street smart and has strong character. He is a galvanising type of person, that will do a really good job for the footy club.
I took note that fellow board member Dean Solomon had written a letter to ex-players about bringing the club together. If you were taking two players on the front line for a line in the sand game it is ‘Welshy’ and Solomon, they are two guys that would be going hard for you and it would be easy to back them in.
The big thing players want from club decision makers is stability.
I think with all the different things that have gone on – such as the Merrett situation – it is unsettling for players so to come in and settle down is really important.
So Andrew will be focused on giving the club that stability so the players can just focus on their job at hand
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Wishing this bloke all the very best. Hopefully some good luck along the way too. Huge gig ahead of him
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Fair strut on him
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Looks arrogant.
Will need to be.
“I wonder what my payout would be if I left after one week?!”
BIGGEST RECRUIT SINCE FABULOUS PHIL CARMAN
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one floaty kick to an opposition player away i reckon
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Hustle bustle dart dodge float