AFL Player # 7: Indefatigable Zach Merrett (c) - 3x AA 🏅🏅🏅 4x Crichton Medallist 🥇🥇🥇🥇

[Beerfish]

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2027
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 10, I Remember Bluey

 

[Highly Evolved]

I'm often quite critical of Zerrett because I believe he's a fantastic player. In what is maybe the biggest (?) game of his career I'm not seeing his usual hunger/intensity which is sad. A fair few down tonight. This one is just bothering me the most because he can probably change the outcome...

I think I said this near half-time. I'll stand by it as he didn't get any better. Was close to the most disappointing on ground in terms of output vs expectations for me.

Heppell on one foot uncomparably better and people are talking about trading him and knocking his effort. Aside from pulling NicNat's hair, Merrett sadly didn't bring his intensity and attack on the ball.

 

[vast]

I know this looks reactionary but I am really not liking what ive been seeing from this guy this year.

Been given licence to run free because he is supposedly our best kick. Well he is not damaging at all and makes some poor errors at times and does not hit the score board.

As a result he refuses to crack in to win a hardball or do any of the hard stuff beyond the occassional tackle.

Enough of the pack skirting. Either change his role or get rid of him.

But he is supposedly a leader so it should not have to be instructed to that degree.

 

[PhoenixBonez]

Of the players on our list to get rid of, I don’t think Merrett would be in my top 30.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Would be better loved if we had two or three midfielders better than him. Which is what we need to be a threat.

 

[quotemokc]

One of the biggest choosers of when to go and when not to go in the league.

Without Goddard there is not a single player on the team that would give him a deserved spray during the game.

 

[PhoenixBonez]

Stood under a high ball in defense knowing he would get clobbered by Darling at full pace. Still just went for the footy. Many other players would have ducked their head or avoided the contest.

Good chance to win our b&f. People questioning whether he should have been in the AA squad.

Had one of his worst games for a while but is far from our biggest problem.

 

[JayJ20]

Someone needs to sit down with him and have a serious discussion.

Everything that made him great is missing. Something must be wrong for someone to fall away that drastically. Part of me thinks he was too ambitious as a young player. He had an expectation of a premiership and played like it.

I think the realisation that not everyone shared the same ambition (or played like it) maybe broke him a bit.

Nothing too concerning at the moment, but someone needs to identify the issue so that it can be rectified before it becomes a bigger issue.

 

[owen87]

Something has certainly changed, his intensity seems down, very much picks and chooses when to go now.

Can accumulate well every game, can still tackle well when he wants to, but his use by foot seems worse than it once was.

I'd have said he was close to the best kick in the team (Tipungwuti probably the only one better, maybe Fantasia) but the number of poor decisions and missed targets are becoming problematic.

 

[boncer34]

Someone needs to sit down with him and have a serious discussion.

Everything that made him great is missing. Something must be wrong for someone to fall away that drastically. Part of me thinks he was too ambitious as a young player. He had an expectation of a premiership and played like it.

I think the realisation that not everyone shared the same ambition (or played like it) maybe broke him a bit.

Nothing too concerning at the moment, but someone needs to identify the issue so that it can be rectified before it becomes a bigger issue.

Not every body has the ambition to be a premiership player?

 

[EnolaGay]

You do wonder if his multiple concussions/head knocks has had an ongoing effect. It's also possible his role has been changed by the club to help protect him from further head knocks.

Last night was disappointing delivery wise, he was a turnover king. It's happened more than once this season.

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[Jobe Watson]

Used to be one of the most reliable field kicks in the competition. You felt confident that when he had the ball he'd hit a target, and you could trust him to execute a tough kick into the middle of the ground to set up the play. Now his kicking is 50/50 at best. He misses easy targets, can't kick more than 40m and can't finish a shot on goal to save himself. What has happened to him?

 

[mike14]

Not every body has the ambition to be a premiership player?

Ambitions probably the wrong word, but I'd argue that not everyone has the physical and mental aptitude to get there (ignoring the 'luck' side of winning a premiership).
It's not the perfect analogy, but take a Special Forces Selection course; everyone that turns up on day 1 has the ambition to pass the course. They're all fit, they're all motivated and they all want to be there. They've trained, they've prepared and they are already in the upper-echelon within their chosen profession.
The course starts and they get stuck in with gusto. 2-3 weeks later and they've absolutely stuffed, their ambition hasn't changed and likely nor has their want, but they've reached the limit of what they can mentally and physically give, and when they reach these point the staff demand just a little bit more. Some can find it, some can't (and full disclosure, I'm one of the ones who couldn't), they just can't take that extra step that's required.
Now, if you take 1 who can't and put him in a groups that can take that step, they'll get him over the line most likely; but if you were to take 1 guy who could and put him in a group of guys who couldn't, he won't be able to get them over the line because the better performing groups start to pull away.

One of my observations of Essendon as an outsider is that it looks like as a group, we have too many who can't find that extra little bit, and not enough guys who can help pull them over the line. It doesn't make them bad players, it doesn't mean that they aren't applying themselves or not giving their all, it just means that collectivly the group doesn't have all the attributes that will allow them to achieve ultimate success

 

[Vander18]

You do wonder if his multiple concussions/head knocks has had an ongoing effect. It's also possible his role has been changed by the club to help protect him from further head knocks.

Last night was disappointing delivery wise, he was a turnover king. It's happened more than once this season.

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All of this.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Merrett has regressed from being an elite kick in 14-16, an above average kick in 17 to being bog average in 18-19.

If he is going to be an A-grade midfielder for us, he has to regain his kicking as a weapon.

 

[calyam]

Thread has become a touch melodramatic. Merrett's season was every bit as good as his All Australian season.

Merrett is the least of our issues.

 

[DERO]

He'll be alright.

 

[JayJ20]

Not every body has the ambition to be a premiership player?

As in, not everyone has the willingness to work for it the way he did.

 

[Ambrosia]

I think it’s wrong to say his hardness and skills have dropped off. What was horrible against WCE was his composure he got caught on his wrong foot 4 or 5 times and shat himself and either straight up gave it to a WCE player or gave it to an Essendon jumper under much more pressure than himself.

 

[Bigjobss]

No love for our leading Brownlow voted player? Apart from an increase in clangers this year he went hard, definitely consider him Captain material.

 

[Yoda_]

No love for our leading Brownlow voted player? Apart from an increase in clangers this year he went hard, definitely consider him Captain material.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how well he polled at the Brownlow.

My proposal to trade him was on the back of knowing he can do more, influence games more. Thats not a bad thing in my book.

 

[The Donners]

No love for our leading Brownlow voted player? Apart from an increase in clangers this year he went hard, definitely consider him Captain material.

It was said earlier, he needs better midfielders around him. He could one day win a Brownlow IF he had help.

 

[JayJ20]

No love for our leading Brownlow voted player? Apart from an increase in clangers this year he went hard, definitely consider him Captain material.

Definitely don't believe he is captain material. I don't see him leading a whole club well.

Wasn't great in any of the finals he played in either.

 

[Albertross]

Definitely don't believe he is captain material. I don't see him leading a whole club well.

Wasn't great in any of the finals he played in either.

Agree. Expect more from a Captain than the half arsed defensive efforts he put in at times this year. Most notably the GWS and Dogs game. I know he wasn't entirely alone during these games, but would hate to see those sorts of efforts from our Captain.

 

[blitzer]

Merrett must be one hell of a player because even when he is playing 'bad', he still managed to be the best player on our list across the entire year.
If we had more blokes with his footy smarts maybe we'd actually win more games.

 

[CBombers17]

Would be better loved if we had two or three midfielders better than him. Which is what we need to be a threat.

Very true. He's highly rated at Essendon because we overrate our players.

Heppell is Zakkas chop out so he can get off the hook (never happened), Merretts addition should help Heppell be a gun....enter Smith (and Stringer) who should have seen Merrett get off the hook plus playing Parish through there and of course Shiel who should be seeing Merrett get off the hook as well (just imagine the damage Zakka should be doing by now!!!) - oh and now all we need is for someone to give Shiel a chopout so he can have more space to hit up a target lol....And Blah blah blah

Most of these guys are just undersized middle of the road mids (or less than middle of the road / ball butchers) without the physical traits or skills to reach the top echelons. Jobe and Winders (honourable mention to BJ but his best midfield days were at Stkilda IMO) are the only 2 players we've had with the multiple gifts required to be a consistent top flight mid in many years. That's the reality.

A super fit Jake Stringer is the only player we have on this list who has the footballing skills, ability and explosive power to be a top flight midfielder. What he does once a quarter (find the ball at the centre bounce, break away from the middle and do something with the football) only the best can do. If we had 4 Zac Merretts in the middle would we have the best midfield in the comp? No.

It's like when Blake went to Brisbane and got dropped ...."superstar at Essendon, can't get a game at Brisbane" - we are still that far away unfortunately IMO.