ESSENDON coach Brad Scott has confirmed he would like to have former captain Zach Merrett at the Bombers long-term, but doesn’t believe there should be a rush to extend his deal.

AFL.com.au‘s Cal Twomey revealed this week the Bombers had tabled a multi-year contract extension to the six-time Crichton Medal winner, whose current deal runs until the end of 2027.

Speaking on Thursday ahead of Essendon’s round two clash with Port Adelaide, Scott said he has been involved in the discussions.

“From my perspective Zach’s contracted for another two years, so there’s not any massive rush on any of this,” Scott said.

“What’s been reported I think is fairly accurate in that there’s been a willingness from Zach and his management to talk to our list management team, and our list management team has had a real willingness to talk to them.

“My only involvement is ‘would you like to have Zach here long term?’ And that’s a pretty simple answer. It’s a resounding yes.”

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Merrett had 32 disposals and kicked a goal in Essendon’s 62-point loss to Hawthorn last weekend, allaying doubts the matter would affect his on-field performance.

Scott was circumspect when asked whether he’d like to have the deal sorted sooner rather than later.

“I mean, does it matter? We’re not going to be able to control what people say throughout the year, so I just worry less about that,” he said.

“He’s contracted for two years, so it’s not as if he’s out of contract. Whether he’s contracted for longer, I think that’s a really good thing for Zach and for the club.”

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The Bombers were cut to ribbons in transition by Hawthorn in their season-opener last Friday night and have put a spotlight on that element of their game, as well as their contest work, at training this week.

“We thought we were a bit all or nothing. We either win the contest and go forward or if we didn’t we got scored against,” he said.

“We’ll go to work again on defending transition which has been a big theme in the pre-season which was exposed on the weekend. We’re clearly not where we need to be in that space.”

He also said draftees Jacob Farrow and Sullivan Robey could both make their debuts, but the club was conscious of striking a balance at selection when it came to injecting youth.