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

 

[The Bomb]

I hope they give him number 19. I really think this could bring the best out of both players, was super surprised that Gold Coast didn't take JK as well as KK.
The Merrett Brothers.
Let's hope they're our Burgoyne's, Cornes' or Scott brothers.

I would be happy with the Madden, Jarman or Ablett brothers.

 

[Loonerty]

Claiming Zac as my boy.

 

[bombermick]

Happy with this pick (don't we all say this?), as his disposal and decision making is fantastic. Going by Dodoro's analysis, I think we were mulling over taking Lobb.

 

[Vander18]

Beautiful kick - always like drafting players who are "elite" in at least one facet of the game and he looks like he is. Also like the fact he appears not to suffer from malnourishment....indeed, he even appears to have a semblance of muscularity.

He mentions that he looks up to Sam Mitchell in his pre-draft video and you can see a little of it. Quick decisions, good skills, stocky....bet he has clean hands and good lateral movement too - just looks that type....very coordinated.

We're overdue to get lucky in the draft, i.e. finding a kid with a mid to late pick who can step straight in and play...be great if it was this kid as we need to upgrade smarts and kicking skills, his two strong suits.

A million things go into being a good player but superficially he looks equipped to play early - not a project player. If he can challenge or go past Kommer, Howlett or Myers first year it'd be great for the team.

 

[Andronicus]

Stoked to get him.

Not because I knew so much about him or any others pre draft, but because the recruiters would have had a good look at him, both through the family ties, but also because he was seemingly pretty talented.

Makes a great story too when brothers are both holding the cup. Lets hope he does it in his rookie year. No pressure though.

 

[The Bomb]

Chapman & Winderlich will set great standards for this kid, perfect situation for him to learn.

 

[VelvetSledge]

It's been a looooooooooong time since we've had a set of brothers at the EFC. Stoked.

Also, OP has been updated.

 

[Foxx]

Merrett must be good if Dodoro and the team looked past Dumont Taylor and one or two others! That's not sarcastic either, lately Dodoro has recruited well.

 

[Andronicus]

Position: Anywhere, can be played all over the ground

This is the bit I like the most

 

[VelvetSledge]

This is the bit I like the most

His draft profile said "small forward, midfielder, defender".

Redundant words are redundant.

 

[Rack Watts]

#canruck

 

[Shane Hird]

Thats a weird thing to say..or is it just me...



...he appears not to suffer from malnourishment.

 

[Doss]

It's been a looooooooooong time since we've had a set of brothers at the EFC. Stoked.

Also, OP has been updated.

Actually, that's a good point.

When and what was the last brother pairing at Essendon? When Chris and Anthony Daniher were both still playing?

Anyone who says "what about Jason and Mark Johnson" leaves themselves open to a permaban. The number of people who still refer to them as the 'Johnson brothers' is alarming.

 

[The Bomb]

Thanks to [user]Quigley[/user]

Zac Merrett
DOB 3/10/95 Ht 180 Wt 77

Merrett has the potential to be the best kick to come out of this draft and for that reason I am putting him reasonably high (originally I did have him higher FWIW). He gets compared to his brother a lot and whilst I can see some definite similarities I think Zac is the better prospect. I just think he has the potential to operate at a higher level and for longer than his brother. I think Merrett has a very high
ceiling and there are not many from the second round on who have that kind of potential to be an elite player. Chances are he will not get there but the potential is there.

There are times in games when Merrett brings out kicks that would do Daniel Rich proud. He does not quite have the penetration of Rich but he does have the same kind of ability to drill low pinpoint passes that can tear a team apart. His penetration is reasonable and he can kick goals from 50 without any drama. His kicking is best when he has time and space and when that is the case he has massive hurt factor on his disposals. When under pressure his kicking does drop away a bit and sometimes he does bite off more than he can chew with his kicks. He is a natural left footer and is pretty good on his non-preferred when he has a bit of time. He does not always get fully balanced when he kicks and though these regularly come off at junior level they are going to get picked off at AFL level. His disposal efficiency is not as high as it should be given his obvious skills but he has an obvious weapon that teams will be keen to utilise once they have him in their system.

Merrett plays as an outside in midfielder and I think suffers a little bit from having Kelly and Freeman in his team. If those guys weren't there then I think Merrett would have had more opportunity to shine and garner attention. As it is he still managed to average 25.5 disposals a game at TAC level which is no mean feat with those two ball poachers floating around. He managed a decent 18.4 disposals a game at the Champs for Country and I think it is fair to say that he is capable of finding the ball albeit his disposals can tend to be fairly anonymous little handball chain types.

Merrett's inside game is often listed as a weakness and personally I think this is overstating it. Whilst he is not an inside specialist by any stretch I think his inside work compares pretty favourably to most of the outside mids going around this year. He is strong in the contest and if the ball comes his way he is does pretty well getting it out to advantage. There is definitely some skills to build on there and he has the potential to develop into an all around midfielder.

Athletically, Merrett tested pretty average across the Board at Combine. His agility and endurance were on the poor side for a midfielder and his endurance in particular will need to improve in order to get games at AFL level. His speed results were above average but not by a heap and given speed is a feature of his game they were a little disappointing. One thing which was evident was that he was a quite slow over the first 5 metres and really picked things up in the back half of the 20m. So it looks like he has well above average top end speed but he could use a little work on his explosiveness out of the blocks. His hand span and arm length were both on the very small size. I am not sure how much that is taken into account but anytime your handspan is below 20cm it probably should be noted.

Personally I see Merrett starting his AFL career in the back half where he can be fed the ball in space and given a bit of time to use his kicking skills. He also likes a bit of run and carry and with his speed and leg he can be a zone buster. His agility is a little bit of a worry in one on one situations as is his height and jumping in marking contests. Still, he probably has the pace and strength to hold his own with a bit of coaching. I would hope that he could be a set up player at the back like Hodge often is for Hawthorn and he has that kind of leg on him.

Defensively he is a bit of a mixed bag. He tends to be quite good in contested situations at shutting down the player with the ball and he averaged 5 tackles a game at the Champs in those shortened quarters. He averaged about the same or a little bit more than that at TAC Cup level as well so the kid knows how to tackle. He is a bit of an arm, rather than shoulder, tackler but he does pin the ball carrier's arm well so it’s hard to say there are too many things wrong there. On the negative though he is not the biggest chaser getting back defensively and this is something which will need to be worked on. This could be a function of his endurance not being particularly high but whether it is for that reason or for simple lack of application he will need to improve.

If you took Merrett's kicking out of the equation he would be a very average prospect but that potential ability alone really does set him apart. If your team is looking to inject some skill into your team then I would be looking at this kid. He needs to up his consistency and improve his tank but if does that I think he could be a very important player in a good team.

 

[lemon chicken]

WHITE KRAKOUR'S!!!!!!!!

 

[Vander18]

Thats a weird thing to say..or is it just me...



...he appears not to suffer from malnourishment.

Just a "humorous" reference to the physiques of recent draftees....good to see a draftee with a more ready-to-go body.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Nah, I bet Zach just told everybody that he wanted to play with his older brother

Yeah, I hope we start hearing rumours that he wouldn't be interviewed by anyone his brother didn't play for. I don't mind a bit of subtle draft tampering.

Anyway, once Weaponised he should be a great player for us.

 

[Darealrath]

Enjoyed Bomber accidentally calling them the Jackson brothers.

 

[The Dustbin]

That left foot is going to be a weapon of mass destruction for opposition teams.
Nice to have a set of brothers on our list again.

 

[Pweter]

I hope they give him number 19. I really think this could bring the best out of both players, was super surprised that Gold Coast didn't take JK as well as KK.
The Merrett Brothers.
Let's hope they're our Burgoyne's, Cornes' or Scott brothers.

Indeed, premiership players all!!!!

 

[boncer34]

Actually, that's a good point.

When and what was the last brother pairing at Essendon? When Chris and Anthony Daniher were both still playing?

Anyone who says "what about Jason and Mark Johnson" leaves themselves open to a permaban. The number of people who still refer to them as the 'Johnson brothers' is alarming.

Was Dale at Essendon in '93?

Don't think so.

 

[Pweter]

#canruck

At least we know when he's struggling to get a game we can go all Wallsey and throw him in the ruck for a bit

 

[VelvetSledge]

Actually, that's a good point.

When and what was the last brother pairing at Essendon? When Chris and Anthony Daniher were both still playing?

Anyone who says "what about Jason and Mark Johnson" leaves themselves open to a permaban. The number of people who still refer to them as the 'Johnson brothers' is alarming.

I actually looked it up and I think you're on the money there. 1994 was Anthony's last year, although Chris played until 1997.
19 years since we've had brothers on the list.

 

[Andronicus]

Was Dale at Essendon in '93?

Don't think so.

Kickett? If so, he isn't the brother of Derek. I think their dads are cousins or one is the uncle of the other. Pretty sure he is the first cousin of Buddy though.

 

[daffo]

I was really hoping that Crouch would slip through to 26 but happy enough with Merrett. It's always nice to have brothers at the same side.