Christian Petracca for Zach Merrett? How Melbourne tried to execute blockbuster trade in 2025

The year is 2026, and Christian Petracca is loving life on the Gold Coast as he prepares for a premiership charge with the Suns, and Zach Merrett is still — allegedly — knocking down the door to get out of Essendon. 

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But had the Melbourne Football Club had their way last year, the two superstars would be experiencing vastly different realities this year, according to Nine journalistSam McClure. 

According to McClure, late in last year’s trade period, the Demons explored the possibility of swapping their then-disgruntled star for Essendon’s disgruntled star, although both Petracca and the Bombers shut down the idea very quickly.

«Paul Guerra had just come in as chief executive… Paul Guerra [was a] massive Essendon man. Guess who Paul Guerra’s favourite player was? Zach Merrett,» McClure revealed on the Tradies podcast.

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«With the Essendon-Hawthorn negations stalling… my understanding is the Melbourne Footy Club, led by Paul Guerra, came in late, and tried to organise a straight swap between Zach Merrett and Christian Petrecca. 

Petracca, who at the time was deciding between requesting a trade to either Gold Coast or Adelaide before eventually settling on the Suns, was said to have taken the idea «not particularly well,» according to McClure.  

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«I think it was sort of like, ‘Hey Essendon do you want Christian Petracca?’ and they were like ‘No.’  And then it was like ‘Hey Christian do you wanna go to Essendon?’ and he was like ‘No,'» he continued. 

Ultimately, Petracca was granted his wish and dealt to the Gold Coast in exchange for three first-round draft picks and additional draft capital, while Merrett was made to stay a Bomber. 

The Demons, under coach Steven King, instead found other ways to bolster their midfield, shipping out Clayton Oliver to GWS and bringing in Jack Steele from St Kilda during the trade period, while also offering more opportunities for players such as Kysaiah Pickett, Tom Sparrow, Caleb Windsor and Kade Chandler to attend centre bounce. 

Albeit, the Dees are still expected to be one of the teams in the mix for Merrett’s services if he is to again ask out of Essendon at the end of the season. 

The 30-year-old aggressively pursued a trade to Hawthorn last off-season, although the Hawks were never able to meet the Bombers’ demands at the trade table. 

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