A dramatic leaguewide deadline day headlined this year’s Continental Tyres Trade Period, with Essendon now looking ahead to the National Draft with a strong draft hand and a new acquisition in Brayden Fiorini.
Zach Merrett was confirmed to be remaining at the Club after offers were presented by Hawthorn in the final 36 hours of the window, with Essendon remaining adamant in him as a key piece for 2026 and beyond.
GM – List and Recruiting Matt Rosa spoke to essendonfc.com.au recapping the events of the trade period and a vision ahead for draft time.
Rosa on… a holistic view of Trade Period
Yeah, it has been a big few weeks. Obviously, a great result for us to bring in Brayden Fiorini. We feel that leading into this period, that wing role was a real area that we were looking for, so to be able to acquire Brayden was fantastic.
He'll also bring great leadership and a lot to the change rooms. We’re looking forward to getting Brayden, (wife) Molly and young (son) William down to the club, but it's exciting for them and we're excited to have them.
Rosa on… what Fiorini brings
With the addition of Brayden, with the boys getting fit and a big summer and then some more youth added to the group, we are really excited about what we can do in 2026.
He's been a leader at the Gold Coast Suns, so he's been a part of their leadership group. He's got a really good football IQ, so his ability to be able to direct out on field and help the young fellas out will be critical.
He’s got great running capability, so the ability to get up and back will complement our midfield mix.
Rosa on… Zach Merrett, optimism over our talent
We've been really strong the whole way through with how highly we value Zach and how important he is to us moving forward and our strategy.
We've got real belief in the young talent we've got coming through, but we've also got real belief in our core group of players, and he's an important part of that. We just need to get more of that core group out on the park more often.
We're looking forward to all the boys getting back into it over summer.
The boys are really looking forward to getting back into training. There's a new S&C and medical team, so there'll be some fresh faces that they'll get to work with. I'm sure the program will feel fresh to them and they're going to be excited about what's to come next year.
Rosa on… the draft, looking ahead
It's great that we're going in with a draft hand with five picks under 30. That's a really exciting time for the football club.
We're really bullish on the type of players and characters that we will be able to bring in through the draft period.
There's no doubt they’ll bring enthusiasm and we're looking forward to continuing the hard work in the lead up to the draft - our recruiting team do a fantastic job.
They've done a mountain of work getting to know these players and understanding what type of players and characters we're bringing in. It’s going to be an exciting period.
