Second Don meets rival ‘senior figures’; ‘really active’ Blues’ latest Curnow vow — Trade Whispers

A day after news of Zach Merrett’s meeting with Sam Mitchell emerged, another contracted Bombers has spoken with a rival.

Plus the latest Carlton update on Charlie Curnow.

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ANOTHER CONTRACTED DON MEETS ‘SENIOR FIGURES’ AT RIVAL

Another contracted Bomber has met with a rival club, per Herald Sun chief football writer and First Crack host Jay Clark.

It emerged on Wednesday that Zach Merrett – the Bombers’ 29-year-old captain who’s being tipped to claim his sixth best and fairest this year – had met privately with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell amid suggestions the on-baller was pondering moving away from the Bombers.

But Clark on Thursday published a Herald Sun report that stated Essendon defender Jordan Ridley had “met with Brisbane Lions’ senior figures”.

Ridley, who won the Bombers’ best and fairest award in 2020, flagged his interest in a trade during his exit meeting, despite being contracted to Essendon until 2029. It was reported his preferred destination is Brisbane — the same club teammate Sam Draper wants to join as a free agent.

Essendon chief executive Craig Vozzo stressed Ridley’s position and reasoning around his desire to depart were high performance-related and, therefore, “very different” to Merrett’s.

“I’ve had constant dialogue with Jordan throughout his career. He’s an outstanding player, an outstanding person – and we’ve got to create the environment that allows him to flourish from a high performance perspective,” Vozzo told SEN Breakfast.

“We’ve gone a long way over the latest period to do that. We were able to appoint Matthew Innes to lead our high performance and medical teams and David Regan will be join him in a 2IC position. So we’ve revamped that part of the business, because we want constant improvement – and we’re really confident that’ll address the issues, not just for Jordan, but other players who have been frustrated with the last couple of years.

“Things change really quickly and I have no doubt that if the proper conversations are held and people respect each other, people can work together.”

BLUES’ LATEST CURNOW VOW BEFORE ‘REALLY ACTIVE’ PERIOD

Blues chief executive Graham Wright insists dual Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow “will be a Carlton player going forward”.

Despite being contracted to Carlton until the end of 2029, Curnow at his Blues exit meeting voiced his desire to be traded.

Sydney or Geelong are his preferred destinations, while Gold Coast has also been linked to Curnow, who’s believed to be keen to get out of the Melbourne bubble.

But Wright on Thursday insisted Curnow would remain a Carlton player.

“I think we’ve been very clear from the start Charlie is a required player, a contracted player for the next four years and we want to see him finish his career here,” Wright told the Blues’ website.

“It’s been a big 12 months for Charlie. He’s had two or three operations across that period of time.

“He’s away on leave at the moment, we’re expecting him back in the next couple of weeks prior to the best and fairest and he’ll be a Carlton player going forward.”

The Blues are set to be one of the busiest clubs during the AFL exchange period.

They’ll receive compensation picks for losing free agents Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni to St Kilda, while rival clubs are also circling Curnow and Mitch McGovern and Elijah Hollands has been told to explore his options.

But the Blues have also been strongly linked to an array of players at rival clubs, including Ned Reeves (Hawthorn), Campbell Chesser (West Coast), Liam Reidy (Fremantle) and Buku Khamis (Western Bulldogs).

Wright said his club was preparing to be “really active” and “open-minded” across the coming months.

“We’ve also got potentially Harry Dean and a couple of NGA player we’re considering as well, so we’re really mindful of the fact we may have to match bids for players, which is obviously topical at the moment,” Wright said.

“But we’re hopeful of being able to do that and then being able to bring in some players ourselves that can compliment what we’re after from a skillset or a positional need that we have and look to fill those.”

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