Adelaide Crows enter race to hijack Hawthorn’s trade for Essendon captain Zach Merrett

Adelaide say they are “in the conversation” to hijack Hawthorn’s Zach Merrett trade in a bid to bolster their midfield after a straight-sets finals exit.

But the under-fire Essendon captain has yet to indicate he is willing to play for anyone but the Hawks next year.

Merrett is on Tuesday reportedly “shattered” with the Bombers and determined never to return to the club, believing he has been undermined by the club and apparent leaks against him.

The update came a day after Channel 7’s Caroline Wilson reported Essendon had been “selectively letting people know about little acts of selfishness, disrespecting AFLW players, just little things along the way”.

“I don’t think what I said has finally been the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Wilson said on Tuesday’s episode of The Agenda Setters.

“I think that straw was broken a long time ago and I also think it’s a bit rich for the Merrett camp to be accusing others of leaking in this story. I mean, what a joke.

“They’ve been the prime leakers all the way through — and good luck to them, he wants to leave the footy club. I don’t think he’s done it in a very good way but he’s done it the way he wanted to from the moment Zach and his partner went into the offices of (his manager) Tom Petroro before the end of the season and said we want out.

“This has been a tinderbox, this has been an explosion waiting to detonate and it’s happened now.

“I think it’s ridiculous that he is using what I said last night as any sort of final straw.”

Dale Thomas said the situation “looks like a bridge way too far” now for Merrett to return.

The Bombers’ stance — albeit one not repeated publicly in recent days — is that Merrett will not be traded given his big-money contract runs until the end of 2027.

“I don’t think there is any way,” Wilson said.

Thomas replied: “Do Essendon have to be careful, then, as to how they portray it as to what they’ll get in return?”

The Dons will be expecting multiple top draft picks but a player of value coming back could also aid a deal.

Ahead of any legitimate talks for a trade, Wilson questioned the impact of the saga on close friends Petroro and Essendon CEO Craig Vozzo: “I’d love to know how that relationship’s playing out.”

The veteran journalist then revealed Hawthorn are not alone in hunting Merrett.

“I’m in fact certain that Adelaide have joined the conversation,” Wilson said.

“They have a serious list management meeting on Thursday. They are not the club they thought they were three weeks ago when they entered into the finals series a game clear on the top of the ladder. They need to bolster their midfield.”

Asked if Merrett is open to the Crows, she said: “He wants to go to Hawthorn.”

“Which to anyone who grew up in the ‘80s and knows about the unadulterated hatred and rivalry between those two clubs knows how poisonous this has become for some people at Essendon,” Wilson added.

“You wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Zach isn’t taking my calls at the moment. I don’t know what he thinks about Adelaide.

“But if I was Zach I’d be looking at Adelaide. Adelaide’s a good footy club, they need a midfielder.

“They spoke about him today as an unofficial chat about where they’re going. They said to me that it would be wrong to say we’re actively pursuing this but yes, we are in the conversation.”

The Crows and Hawks have both been loosely linked — at least as a potential landing spot — to Melbourne’s Norm Smith medallist Christian Petracca since his name re-emerged on the trade table on Monday.

Hawthorn premiership great Luke Hodge believes Merrett, who turns 30 next month, should be keen to go to any team in the top four or six from this year.

“Surely he’d be putting his hand up to jump to any of those clubs,” he said.

“Because from what you’ve said and what we’ve seen over the last two weeks there’s no way he could walk back into Essendon.

“Initially I said he couldn’t be captain. Now after rumours from both sides he can’t walk back in.”

Hodge said Merrett’s skill with the ball would make him a better fit for Hawthorn than Petracca.