No hardball, no deadline drama: Inside Essendon’s trade reset

October 7, 2026 — 7:30pm

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Had we been told that the Essendon Football Club would have Zach Merrett traded to Hawthorn, and Jordan Ridley to Geelong by lunchtime on Wednesday, the natural assumption would be that these deals must have been struck in a flurry on the final day of the trading period.

These trades of two of Essendon’s premier players were duly consummated on Wednesday. Except that it was a week and several hours before the deadline, not on October 14 following days of bluffs and threats between the rivals.

These trades were made by a different version of Essendon.

Historically, this was not how the Bombers did business with competitors. They played hardball at the trade table and while there were some occasional wins in October, their methods and choices did not see any victories in the preceding month over 20 years.

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Culture is an overused word in the AFL, but the completion of those trades, with minimal haggling and ambit claiming, was a measure of an Essendon attempt at cultural change.

President Andrew Welsh had said that the Dons wouldn’t be pushed around any more during last year’s trade period, when Merrett and Ridley were stranded after the club refused to grant them their wish.

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© The Sydney Morning Herald