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‘Know which way that’s leaning’: Coach’s Butters admission as call looms, Dons make Merrett plea Essendon interim coach Dean Solomon will use Trent Cotchin’s career transformation as a reference when he meets with Zach Merrett this week. Merrett potentially played his final game as a Bomber on Sunday against Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium after his failed attempt to be traded last year. Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The Bombers fell narrowly short of an upset win, despite Merrett kicking the go-ahead goal with two minutes left. Solomon pointed to Cotchin’s path from early hard slogs to late-career silverware at Richmond as the roadmap he wants Merrett to emulate at Essendon. “I hope it does, I really do,” Solomon said when asked if Essendon’s future includes Merrett. “I sort of mentioned last week: story’s like Trent Cotchin’s where they go through tough periods of time for long periods of time. “(Cotchin) finishes with a premiership (and) I’d love Zach to have a similar journey with our football club. “Ultimately that will be his decision and a lot of that will play out over the coming month. “I have no knowledge, no insights of what he’s thinking other than from a personal point of view I hope he does stay and gets the reward he deserves at the end of his career.” Solomon says he and Merrett are yet to discuss the future. “We’ll have exit reviews over the coming days and I will get a good 15 to 30 minutes with Zach to sit down and talk through a lot of that,” he said. “I guess the week-to-week cycle, in season, he’s focused on the way we recover, the way we plan, and the way we play. “The bigger stuff hasn’t been a conversation piece I’ve had with Zach in season, but I am more than happy to have that with him as we move together through the next week. “There’s obviously list management conversations with the new coach. In many ways I fade right out into the background. “We assume there’s going to be a new coach in the next one, two, three next days and it’s their role to have those conversations with him. “I just really hope it ends in a positive way.” Port Adelaide has a fight of its own to keep free agent Zak Butters. Butters is widely expected to return home to Victoria next season but has not formally told coach Josh Carr of his decision. “We’ll get a better idea this week, we’ve obviously got all the exits this week from Monday to Wednesday,” Carr said. “It’ll be pretty clear from there, I would’ve thought. You never know what could happen (but) history will tell you if you get into this position now you’re up against it. “But at the same time, I always have a little bit of hope there.” Carr concedes Butters re-signing at this stage is unlikely. “I am a realist, and we all are,” he said. “You get to this position and nothing’s happened, we’ll get through the next few days and get some real clarity around it. “Whatever the answer is, we know which way that’s leaning, we make the most of it.”