Essendon vice-captain Zach Merrett has won his second Crichton Medal as the AFL club’s best and fairest player.

The 2016 winner polled 427 votes to finish ahead of fellow onballer Dylan Shiel on 389, while speedy defender Adam Saad was third on 376.

Star forwards Joe Daniher and Orazio Fantasia attended Tuesday night’s awards function and made no comment to media as speculation continues about their futures.

There was no mention made of the pair in the speeches throughout the night.

An announcement is expected later this week on whether Daniher will seek a trade to Sydney, while Port Adelaide are keen to lure Fantasia back to his home state.

Daniher and Fantasia are contracted for next season.

Daniher only played four games this year before needing groin surgery, while hamstring problems kept Fantasia to 15 games.

But Merrett starred, playing all 23 games and captaining the team five times when Dyson Heppell was injured.

Heppell attended the awards night on crutches following foot surgery.

One of the highlights of the evening was the induction of Bombers great Ian “Bluey” Shelton into the club’s hall of fame.

Shelton, 79, played 91 games for the Bombers between 1959-65 and was a two-time premiership player.

Four-time Bombers premiership coach Kevin Sheedy interviewed Shelton on stage and the rugged centre half-back received a standing ovation for his induction.

“He is an incredibly inspirational player and even though he had a short career, his impact was profound,” Sheedy said.

“I wore the No.10 (at Richmond) because of him and I never changed my number.

“When I moved into a coaching role, I always gave players that I thought would be very good players the No.10.”