ESSENDON coach Brad Scott concedes he was surprised to learn contracted star Zach Merrett had met with Hawthorn this week, but maintains the skipper "will not be traded under any circumstances".
He has also said Merrett can remain captain of the club, despite the skipper's meeting with Hawks coach Sam Mitchell becoming public.
Merrett, a five-time best and fairest at Essendon, has been weighing moving clubs since the end of the Bombers' season.
Scott, who had dinner with Merrett earlier this week, said news of the star midfielder's Tuesday night meeting with Mitchell came as a surprise.
He said while the pair speak most days, they had not been in contact since news of the Mitchell meeting came to light.
"He's a contracted captain. Our club's position is we will not be trading him under any circumstances," Scott told Fox Footy.
"I understand Zach. I love Zach. He's so desperate for success, he wears his heart on his sleeve and he goes through these moments.
"But the club's position is he's our captain, he's contracted for two years.
"We've adjusted his contract to reflect his performance and we expect him to see it through.
"He made a commitment. A lot of agents are running with at the moment: 'just sign long-term contracts, and if you want to move, we'll move you'.
"Well, that's not the world I live in. The world I live in is if you make a commitment, then you see it through.
"We committed to him, he committed to us ... I intend to see my commitment through and I expect our captain to do the same.
"I can't stress enough that I love this bloke. He's an incredible player ... his will to win is unbelievable."
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Scott conceded rebuilding the club's relationship with Merrett would be challenging, but insisted he can remain the Bombers' captain.
"Of course he can be captain. No one is perfect," he said.
"Will it be a challenge because of this? Of course it will.
"I've seen him overcome bigger challenges than this."
Scott said club captains meeting with rival coaches was part of the modern trade landscape.
"The old timers probably have a problem with it," he said.
"This is the second club captain that Sam Mitchell has met with in one year (after West Coast skipper Oscar Allen). The difference is our club captain is contracted for another two years.
"You've got accept that players are going to do this and coaches are doing this now.
"I think the world is changing. There would be a time and place in which I'd be pretty disappointed, but the reality now is that the gloves are off and all is fair in love and war.
"If that's the path they want to go down, we'll play that game too."
The veteran coach likened the 29-year-old's exploration of a move away like a child making a mistake.
As for Ridley, who is contracted until 2029, Scott took the same stance: "Jordan's contracted, he won't be traded under any circumstances."
Mitchell was coy at his pre-training media conference on Wednesday morning when asked about their interest in Merrett.
"I'm not sure - you'd have to talk to the list management guys about that," Mitchell said.
"I hope they are working behind the scenes on improving our list. That's what their job is and I hope they are going about that."
- with AAP
