AFL Daily: Hawks coach responds to trade rumour; new name on Bombers coach wishlist

Sam Mitchell has made a hilarious reveal about how a recent trade rumour gave rise to a new nickname for one of Hawthorn’s beloved youngsters.

Meanwhile, Essendon is reportedly in talks with a premiership player over joining Mark McVeigh’s coaching staff. Read on in AFL Daily.

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COACH’S HILARIOUS REVEAL IN RESPONSE TO TRADE REPORT

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell believes young key defender Noah Mraz will be “a very good player for us for a long time”.

It comes after AFL Media’s Cal Twomey reported Essendon is willing to pay the 20-year-old $3.5 million over four years, in a move that would theoretically be part of the Zach Merrett trade.

On Friday morning, Mitchell was asked if he thought Mraz — who’s contracted through 2028 — was a $900,000-a-year player yet, and the coach wound up revealing that a new nickname has come about as a result of the speculation.

“I’m not sure (if he is). I did read about that,” Mitchell said on SEN’s Fireball with a chuckle.

“It was hard to avoid yesterday; he’s quite big in our social media.

“I’m not sure where it came from, but they call him ‘Honeybuns’ or something. And so all of the players, even during training, were calling him ‘Moneybuns’.

“You just can’t escape this sort of stuff in a footy club. It’s great banter.”

The 198-centimetre backman flashed in his AFL debut in Round 17 before suffering a kidney laceration in Round 20.

Last weekend, he recorded 11 intercepts and 24 disposals as Box Hill booked a place in the VFL grand final this Sunday.

“It’s unfortunate for him; he got hurt about six weeks ago, and he’s just not quite been able to get himself back into the side,” Mitchell added.

“But he’s going to be a very good player for us for a long time.”

More broadly, Mitchell was also probed for his thoughts on Essendon trying to pry Hawks out of Dingley as the clubs prepare to negotiate Merrett’s Hawthorn move in October.

Essendon’s Mraz move comes almost a year after it also lobbed an eye-watering offer Josh Weddle’s way.

“I mean, you understand what happens in the game now,” Mitchell said.

“There’s a lot of movement. Players have the ability to move clubs much more than they have had in the past.

“And I think our focus is just running the best program we can, so that you can retain as many people on appropriate salaries as you can.

“So, individual players, making sure they stay. If you’re trying to match everyone’s fees, then obviously you’re going to blow your cap.

“So, we’re very focused on having a great environment that people want to be a part of, and we’ll continue to try to do that the best we can.”

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BOMBERS EYENING FLAG HERO AS ASSISTANT DEPARTS

Mark Johnson is the latest name in Essendon’s sights as a potential addition to Mark McVeigh’s coaching staff.

But it comes as one of the club’s assistant coaches has opted to depart.

The Herald Sun’s Jay Clark reported on Thursday that Johnson’s possible arrival would be as a tackling coach.

The 2000 premiership player, who was a club best-and-fairest in 2002, is said to be a martial arts expert and has a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu.

The revelation comes as Essendon looks to fill out McVeigh’s assistant coaching panel and the wider football department.

Earlier this month, the likes of Amon Buchanan, Brendon Lade and Tendai Mzungu had also been linked to the Bombers as potential hires.

Buchanan worked with McVeigh at the Swans, where he continues to serve as Sydney makes a tilt for this year’s premiership.

Lade, the Western Bulldogs’ midfield coach, has spent the past five seasons working under Luke Beveridge at the Kennel and threw his hat in the ring for the Carlton job.

Mzungu, meanwhile, has worked closely with Fremantle’s stout backline.

Former Essendon senior coach James Hird also remains on the periphery after previously confirming he’d held talks over potentially taking on a role at the club under McVeigh.

However, Dean Solomon is a name that won’t be at Tullamarine in 2027, with the former interim coach choosing to part ways.

Essendon confirmed on Friday that Solomon will return home to northern New South Wales after being away from his family.

AFL Media’s Josh Gabelich reports Solomon had been offered a range of roles, including senior assistant, in the club’s hope of retaining him.

The 2000 premiership player also turned down “a director of coaching style role and even a fly-in, fly-out part-time option” to return to his family.

Solomon led the Bombers to a 1-11 record after taking over from the sacked Brad Scott mid-season.

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