Mason Cox could move to Fremantle Dockers after winning flag with Collingwood Magpies; Zach Merrett returns to Essendon Bombers training after failed Hawthorn Hawks trade bid
An uninteresting sight at times both familiar and ordinary; The return to training of a football club’s best player. But these were not ordinary times at Essendon.
After the bitterness and resentment of Zach Merrett’s failed attempt to be traded to Hawthorn at the trade deadline, the idea of this year’s Essendon captain returning to training is intriguing.
The Bombers welcomed Zach Merrett, who officially returned to practice.Credit: Essendon F.C.
Merrett, along with his club teammates, returned to the track for pre-season early Friday morning. The star gunner, who won his sixth best and fairest award only weeks ago while he was in a rush to leave the club, took to the field for a full session in the “Hangar” at 7.30am with his first to fourth year players.
While most of the senior players have now returned, the full roster will not return to training until November 24.
Merrett was reportedly absent from teammate Andy McGrath’s off-season wedding, but McGrath knew late in the season and well before the postseason trade request discussions that Merrett would not be able to attend another wedding because he would be in the United States.
Brad Scott (left) and Merrett laugh on the star forward’s first day of preseason training since his failed trade request.Credit: Essendon F.C.
Still, Merrett’s return marks a somewhat uncomfortable moment for him, given that he has aggressively sought to leave the club he has led as captain since 2023.
When Merrett requested a trade, the Bombers said they almost certainly wouldn’t trade him given he had two years left on his contract. The Hawks offered three draft packages late in the trade deadline but were unable to persuade the Bombers to stand firm on not trading their biggest star.
Merrett wasted no time in getting into the swing of things with his teammates.Credit: Essendon F.C.
Hawthorn eventually offered the 10th and 22nd picks in this year’s draft, next year’s first-round pick and fringe midfielder Henry Hustwaite.
Seeking to capitalize on the bad blood between the clubs over the failed trade deal, the AFL has pitted Essendon and Hawthorn against each other in next year’s first round. Whether Merrett will come out for the coin toss is another matter. While he was captain this season, it is unlikely he will be, or try to be, captain again next year.
The Bombers and Hawks faced each other in the first round this season and attracted a crowd of 80,735. Given the events of the off-season, next year’s figure is expected to easily exceed that.
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