Sam Edmund

That is the open process where you can get on, you can speak for him or you can speak against him.

John from Mount Evelyn before we get to the 7.30 news headlines.

Go, John.

Well, I'm not putting words in your mouth, Tim, but at the time, you suggested that that wasn't the case?

That's right.

Or there was a different understanding?

There was a different view and opinion about that, how that all came about.

We need to hear from Essendon.

Well, I don't know whether or not they want to get down in the weeds and actually discuss that publicly or not.

Maybe they don't, and that's okay.

But ultimately, I guess it's a club decision.

There's a lot of robust discussion that goes around keeping or not keeping players.

I believe, as I said last week or the week before about this, had they got a better offer from Hawthorne at that time, the club would have done that deal for Zach Merritt at that time.

We're going to move on and get into some other footy topics after 7.30.

Just finally before we go, this is what happens.

And as I've been saying all morning, I understand the emotion.

So Matty Lloyd now is being linked to this.

This is the narrative that has grown over the past.

He's part of the herd camp and he's part of a cartel of Essendon people in the media, powerful voices that are driving this through.

Well, Matty Lloyd has got his own platform to respond to some of that.