Hawthorn will consider bundling picks in the quest to land wantaway Essendon skipper Zach Merrett who hasn’t officially asked for a trade and with any plans set to be blocked by the Bombers.

Essendon opened the AFL’s trade period by shutting down talk of a deal with the Hawks refusing to budge on plans to keep Merrett as the club.

Merrett, who won his sixth club best and fairest last week and made an awkward speech conceding to “complexities and uncertainties” about his future having met with Hawks coach Sam Mitchell.

But following a statement from new president, Andrew Welsh, that Merrett would be kept to the final two years of his contract , list boss Matt Rosa was adamant on Monday the captain was a “required player” and he’d made no official request for a trade.

“It’s been an inter

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