Lyon’s Horse theory on bittersweet Merrett move

Tim Watson isn’t exactly over the moon that Zach Merrett has left Essendon.

But he understands why the Bombers star has up and left for Hawthorn after a tumultuous few seasons at The Hangar.

Merrett’s much-anticipated move to the Hawks finally went through on Monday, ending his 13-year career with the Dons, and sparking a reaction from club legend Watson.

“I’m not happy that he's going because he's been a great player, seven-time Crichton Medal winner,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.

“So you're never happy to see your great players leave your football club.

“But having said that I understand completely what he had to deal with in terms of where his career was at, what had been discussed with him over time, where he wanted to play his football, what he thought his football career should look like, and how he wanted to finish his career.

“So I understand all that.”

Co-host Garry Lyon was intrigued by the situation, especially after Dons president Andrew Welsh was so strong with his recent comments to News Corp.

“No surprise it got done,” Lyon said.

“But surprised after reading the paper where your president (Andrew Welsh) came out and said, ‘They won't want to be cute with us. We're going to play hardball. We're going to dig our heels in. He said Hawthorn, I think, underestimated our club and where we're going’.

“That's the one grab that pricked my ears and raised my eyebrows.”

Lyon then posed a theory to Watson involving John Longmire’s presence at Essendon.

Lyon: “Are you thankful that it got done as quickly as it did?”

Watson: “Yeah, I am now because it could have been another circus, that whole ongoing rolling conversation around all this.”

Lyon: “Do you want my read on this?

“This has got Johnny Longmire written all over this. That's the way I read it.

“So I read Andrew Welsh doing what he's trying to do which is fly the flag for Essendon and put his flag in the ground and say, ‘We won't be bullied and we won't be pushed around and Hawthorn better pony up’, and I'm thinking, oh no, this looks like they're getting ready for another four weeks of posturing.

“The next day the deal's done. And I'm thinking, what's happened here? I just keep thinking Johnny Longmire's walked in and gone, ‘No, no, we’re not going through all this again. We're moving on. We've got a footy club that has to move forward. We're not going to get mired in two weeks of just bull dust when we know he's going. He wants out desperately. It's no good us keeping him’.

“It just sounds to me like this is what you got John Longmire in for. What you go to John Longmire for is you go, ‘Come in here and give me a brand new set of eyes’.

“And I reckon Johnny's eyes went over the Herald Sun article on Saturday and said, ‘Nup, that's not what we're doing again, boys. Let's get this done quick so we can move on and start to make some other moves’. And bang, it was done in a day.

“That's the way I read it.”

Watson: “Yeah, well, that's a great decision on his behalf, if that's the case.

“And that's a reasonable way to read it without knowing whether or not that actually happened.”

Lyon: “If it was, then that's exactly what you're paying him for. Go in and just get this thing moving.”

Watson: “So what price do you put on a flag and a premiership? What price?

“Because I'll just present another way to look at what took place in the last 12 months. Had Hawthorn actually ponied up a little bit more than what they were prepared to offer last year, all hypothetical, Zach Merrett may have become a player for them, and Zach Merrett may have been the difference between them playing off in a Grand Final and winning a Grand Final this year and not.

“So maybe Hawthorn, if you look back in the last 12 months, should have gone a little bit harder to try and secure Zach Merrett.”

Lyon: “Yeah, you can make that argument as well. But again, get going. I'm glad Essendon have done it.

“And I think it's a great move. Maybe Spike (Mark McVeigh) was involved as well. And they said, ‘No, come on, let's move out of the past. The past has been terrible, and let's get moving into the future’.”

Listen to the full chat below: