Zach Merrett's meeting with Hawthorn has given Essendon a chance to become a ruthless football club once again

Five years ago, after a dismal COVID-shortened season saw Essendon manage just six wins, three key players asked for moves out of the club.

Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia walking out on the club was seen as a stunning vote of no-confidence in the direction the fallen superpower was heading in.

Daniher, Saad and Fantasia's moves were all vindicated in the years that followed. One is a premiership player while the others played in winning finals, something Essendon has now embarrassingly not done in 21 years.

Essendon's powerbrokers will have vowed for such an exodus to never occur again, and therefore will be bewildered that they're seemingly back in the same spot after another horrid season.

There has been a large shuffling of the decks both on and off the field at Essendon since the summer of 2020. The senior coach, president, list manager, football boss, CEO and training staff have all been turned over in that time.

Of the playing list Essendon's senior coach Brad Scott inherited at the end of 2022 when he took over from Ben Rutten, only 20 players still remain at the club, a number which will be sliced even further this off-season.

It is hard to say Essendon has not turned over every stone to change its culture over the last few years, and yet one of the club's main pillars, its captain and best player by a country mile, Zach Merrett, wants to walk out with two years left on his contract.

Merrett is one of three players to express a desire to leave Essendon this summer. Popular ruckman Sam Draper has already left the club after exercising his rights as a free agent, while former best and fairest winner Jordan Ridley has also had his head turned despite signing a three-year extension last year.

Alignment and long-term stability have been at the heart of each of Essendon's decisions since Scott's arrival, and both will be crucial when it comes to deciding what to do in the case of Merrett.

There is a significant amount of water to go under the bridge before Merrett runs out wearing Hawthorn colours.

However, even if he ultimately stays this summer, the fact that the club's captain is meeting with rivals discussing an exit has to shake Essendon to its core. Its leaders must ask themselves whether they are still steering the ship in the right direction.

Merrett has continually presented a united front with his senior coach, but his meeting with a Hawthorn brass including its senior coach, Sam Mitchell, is the surest sign that at least some of what Merrett has said publicly in the past was simply PR spin on his part.

"I’m all in. I’m contracted for two more years, I’m the captain of the footy club. I’ve got so much trust in Brad and what he’s doing; I really want to see that through," Merrett said on Fox Footy's AFL360 in July.

Scott indicated that he was completely blindsided by Merrett's meeting with Mitchell.

The Essendon coach appeared visibly hurt by the whole matter when discussing it on Wednesday night, but impressively managed to walk the tightrope of expressing his displeasure at Merrett's clandestine Hawthorn meeting while not ostracising his skipper altogether.

Scott, list boss Matt Rosa and CEO Craig Vozzo all seem to understand that turning Essendon around isn't a quick fix. The decision to extend Scott's contract by a year in March reflects this.

Merrett's words only weeks ago seemed to indicate that he too understood this. In Scott's words on Fox Footy's AFL360, Essendon's deliberate rebuild from the ground up was Merrett's "vision as well".

While Scott left the door wide open for Merrett to remain as captain, Vozzo seemed less convinced when speaking about the issue on Thursday morning on SEN Radio.

"The issue at hand — can he remain captain? It's a really complex one. It's one that you need to deal with in a calm way, and you can't deal with it today," he said.

"You take the emotion out of it, and understand the honour and the privilege."

If alignment on all fronts is as important as Essendon has made it seem over the last few years, Merrett cannot remain the club's captain.

Prior to Scott's arrival, Merrett might have been allowed to waltz back into the club for the start of the pre-season like nothing ever happened. This cannot be the case.

Not only was Merrett's meeting with Hawthorn a vote of no-confidence in Scott and the direction of Essendon, it was a vote of no-confidence by the skipper in his young teammates, many of whom no doubt look up to him. Merrett may be an excellent professional, but has shown himself to be a poor leader with his latest act.

"A leader, in my opinion ... must be of all things totally committed," former Essendon captain Tim Watson told SEN on Thursday morning.

"The leadership is an honour that has been earnt over a long period of time at a football club. Now that person has to embody and carry forth the culture that you're living."

It is telling that Hawthorn is the club Merrett is considering joining.

Since Essendon last won a final in 2004, the way the Bombers and Hawks have operated could not be more different. Hawthorn has shown itself to be a ruthless and uncompromising club both on and off the field. This ruthless pursuit of excellence aligns with Merrett's own personal ambitions.

This is the same club that told Mitchell he should explore options elsewhere just a season after he'd played in his fourth premiership.

How would the Hawks — namely Mitchell — react if his skipper James Sicily went behind his back to meet with Essendon to devise an exit plan?

That it itself should inform Essendon as to what it should do as it pertains to Merrett and not only his captaincy, but his future at the club.

Merrett's meeting isn't without precedent. In 2014, fresh off an All-Australian season, Bulldogs captain Ryan Griffen — then 28 — said he wanted to join the GWS Giants.

The Dogs flipped Griffen and won a premiership two years later, beating Griffen's Giants en-route to their iconic 2016 flag.

This doesn't mean Essendon should just trade Merrett for cents on the dollar. He is already a five-time club best and fairest winner, and is highly likely to win his sixth next month. He is a three-time All-Australian and has put together a decade worth of All-Australian calibre seasons. Players like that do not grow on trees.

Given the fact that Merrett is contracted for another two years, all the pressure is on Hawthorn to get a deal done.

With the trade period a month away, there is no doubt this potential deal will be the headliner and the negotiation with the Hawks looms as Rosa's first real test since taking over from the polarising Adrian Dodoro.

If Hawthorn indeed overpays in a trade offer for Merrett, Essendon should move him on. Having to do the 'will he, won't he' dance for another 12 months simply delays the club from where it wants to ultimately get to.

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Since Essendon finished second-last in 2006, save for the 2016 season where its best players were banned, the Bombers have routinely bounced between six and 12 wins per season because they've been unable to make strong decisions. That treadmill of mediocrity is why the club's embarrassing finals drought is still a running joke.

Of Brad Scott's 15-minute interview on AFL 360 on Wednesday night, his reaction when asked for his opinion on the Hawks' conduct was most telling.

"The reality is now the gloves are off and all is fair in love and war," he said.

"If that's the path they want to go down, then we'll play at that game too."

A lack of ruthlessness both on and off the field has contributed largely to Essendon's demise over the last two decades. Zach Merrett has just handed them an opportunity to flip the script.

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