Essendon captain addresses Zach Merrett extension rumours

Newly appointed Bombers captain Andrew McGrath says he's "not shocked" by recent reports suggesting his superstar teammate Zach Merrett has engaged in preliminary contract extension talks with the club, just months after he attempted to exit the Hangar via a trade.

While McGrath admitted the off-season fallout was more turbulent than expected, he noted that sensationalist media dramatised the situation more than what was actually going on behind closed doors.

"Day one of pre-season, there was a few awkward handshakes and a few gags, but after that it was all business," McGrath told SEN.

"I'm not shocked. Knowing Zach, I think he needed to see a couple of changes.

"How it went down was turbulent and not how we all expected, but he's committed and wants to win. He wants to win in red and black. That's all we care about at this point in time."

McGrath, who averaged 22.7 disposals per game in 2025, and was one of just four Bombers to play all 23 games last year, shared his side of the situation as a close mate of Zach's, while also wanting to manage the best interests of the club he is so invested in achieving success with.

"Publicly, it's really interesting, and we've had a lot of questions around what happened, but knowing Zach and our relationship, as soon as I got back from overseas and we spoke about it, it was a lot clearer," McGrath said.

"I understood his point of view. He explained a few of his concerns around what was happening, our performance and where he was at in terms of his career.

"I was in an interesting position as I'll always support Zach as a person and I know his family really well... but I also have a firm foot in the footy club's camp around what was best for our footy club.

"That was keeping Zach, as our best player and leader. He still is."

Despite the reshuffling of the Bombers' leadership group, which Merrett opted out of after his failed departure, McGrath does not feel that the passion has waned among the playing group at Tullamarine entering 2026.

McGrath noted the spark that top Bombers recruit Brayden Fiorini brought into the leadership mix in December, as well as the positive presence of the more youthful additions in Sam Durham and Jye Caldwell, and reaffirmed that sentiment again on Monday.

"We've got a lot of senior players that are willing to speak and are passionate about the cause," McGrath said.

"We're all really committed to where we want to go and what we want to achieve. Our whole leadership group, as well as some senior players that aren't in that, are really passionate about the direction of the footy club."