Is there hope for Merrett?

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luthor

luthor

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Oct 13, 2001
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I'm probably a bit late with this but I've been kinda busy the last few days.

Anyway, up until last week's Geelong game, I've had little time for big Dan and rarely had anything good to say about him.

Nonentheless, I thought he showed a few signs last Sunday that maybe he does have something to offer.

For the first time that I can remember, he didn't drop a sitter of a mark......in fact he took a really good contested overhead in the goalsquare with his hands, kicked a couple of goals with confidence and generally looked enthusiastic and quite mobile at times.

Maybe he is worth perservering with.

Thoughts?
 
The word at the club is that they rate him as a player and he did start his footy late compared to many. But I also have my doubts - his decison making is poor. I can't count the amount of times I've seen him make a great lead, but to the wrong spot! But big units like him don't grow on trees, so my feeling is that another year will paint a better picture of his future.
 

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luthor said:
For the first time that I can remember, he didn't drop a sitter of a mark......in fact he took a really good contested overhead in the goalsquare with his hands, kicked a couple of goals with confidence and generally looked enthusiastic and quite mobile at times.

Maybe he is worth perservering with.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

1%ers were great last week could not be faulted.
My biggest concern is that he far too often tries to take the ball on his chest. Which defies logic for 3 reasons:

1) One of his best assets is that he has a great set of hands & can take a nice one grab mark.
2) When ever he tries to take it on his chest, it bounces straight off
3) Any decent footballer knows that by taking the ball in your hands out in front makes it extremely difficult for the defender to spoil. This is even more important given the rule were a free kick is now paid for slapping your arms away in a marking contest.

I distinctly remember one example when a Geelong defender easily thumped the ball away last week when he took the easy chest option. Throw the hands out & he more than likely takes the grab. It ain't rocket science.

Until he can master this part of the game he will continue to struggle in my eyes. Watch out for it this week.......
 
luthor said:
I'm probably a bit late with this but I've been kinda busy the last few days.

Anyway, up until last week's Geelong game, I've had little time for big Dan and rarely had anything good to say about him.

Nonentheless, I thought he showed a few signs last Sunday that maybe he does have something to offer.

For the first time that I can remember, he didn't drop a sitter of a mark......in fact he took a really good contested overhead in the goalsquare with his hands, kicked a couple of goals with confidence and generally looked enthusiastic and quite mobile at times.

Maybe he is worth perservering with.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
he never lacks enthusiasm...
 
Merret is currently averaging 4 disposals per game this year.

to compare with similar players (for height and weight)

Troy Chaplin 20 yrs, 24 games, av 15.8 disposals
Kepler Bradley 20 yrs, 41 games, av 12.6 disposals
Lance Franklin 19 yrs, 30 games, av 12.0 disposals
Brent Staker 22 yrs, 64 games, av 11.8 disposals
Graham Polak 22 yrs - av 10.5 disposals
Cameron Cloke 21 yrs, 21 games, av 8.5 disposals
Will Minson 21 yrs, 29 games, av 8.0 disposals
Ivan Maric 20 yrs, 7 games, av 6.6 disposals
Daniel Merrett 21 yrs, 20 games av 4 disposals
Tom Lonergan 22 yrs, 5 games, av 4 disposals

Basically he'd better start producing more soon, he's behind the eight ball, even for a KP prospect.
 
He's played 20 games after coming from a volleyball/rugby background. If you want to compare him to top 10 draft picks (Buddy, Kep, Polak etc) with long footy pedigrees he's going to suck every time.

Add to that the fact that Staker's played three times as many games and Polak has played 72!

The only fair comparisons on your list are Lonergan, Maric, Cloke and arguably Minson.

The only question you need to ask is do we have a new player entering the club that you are certain is a better option to replace him.
 
I take the fact that players (Staker) of a similar age have played three times as many games just means they have been contributing enough to keep getting selected.

I take your point though, he doesnt cost us much but a space on the list, and his size and height make him a player you can use if needed to patch up a side.

It's just so disapointing, he has the build to be extremely imposing and dangerous (though he could afford to lose a few kilos).

p.s. I didnt know Merret played rugby, he would have made an imposing forward.
 
I believe that Saucehead is going to make it. Here are my reasons.

- He is a goer. His 1%ers are fantastic. He chases his man and makes a contest everytime he can.

- His background. You can not complare him to anyone really. He played only 18 months of footy before being drafted. Rugby and vollyball were his sports and only stumbled into our game as a fill in for a few weeks. Apart from Tom Williams and Brad Moran there are no others with that type of background.

- Injury. His 12 months away from footy due to glandular fever or whatever it was could not have come at a worse time. It set him way back in his development.

Having said all of this, I acknowledge that he has to start improving over the next 12 months. Yes he does drop chest marks, but at least he gets to the ball. I think he is just running to fast when he gets there:cool:
 
I don't think the question is COULD he make it if we gave him time to develop into his full potential etc it is more CAN he develop quick enough to be a worthwhile investment for the club. He obviously has potential and if he did have the AFL background then there are signs that yes he probably would have made it, but he didn't have the background and may not be at the standard that he should be at for his age group and number of games. Sure you have to keep in mind he doesn't have the background but is his potential worthy of a spot in the top grade of the sport nationwide? He has another year left of his contract but if he doesn't start to drastically improve and change potential into skill then maybe his spot would be better spent on someone with more concrete skills from the beginning.
 

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His presence in the back half when it comes to intimidation etc is great, I have to be honest though I do squirm when he starts running with the ball knowing he has to dispose of it, he has made some real clunkers this year.
 
Merrett has come a long way. I remember when he had Rod Marsh 'Irongloves' when first tried as a marking forward in his early days, and essentially never kicked when transferred to the backline, but handballed off to another running player.

These days I don't squirm at all when he kicks; in fact I think he's among our more reliable ones now.

Pity it's taken him most of his career!:D
 
luthor said:
WOW!!!

I started this thread nine years ago.

Too many beers and wines ago .

No wonder I have absolutely no recollection of it.:$
Click to expand...

I reckon he'll go alright. There might be a time that he goes to FF for a while in some sort of make shift forward line when we get a heap of injuries. Chances are that period might rattle him for a while and he'll lose a bit of confidence, but with a happy family life and off feild situation he'll be a loyal Lion, and aside from a few injury patches here and there he'll go back to defense, find form, and then become the back bone & "mentor" of our young defense.

Well... thats what I think will happen anyway :D
 
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