Cripps Bontempelli Merrett Kelly - the next big 4?

[Ozil]

Hunter isn't that far off Merrett but you knew bringing him into this would just have Essendon fans s**t on him.

As for the consistency angle, it's s**t. It's just weight of contextless numbers. Bontempelli spends the least time in the midfield of every club's most-used and booted the most goals of any midfielder in the league last year.

He doesn't "go missing", he's just not plugging away in the same role all night.

 

[Cadillac]

Merrett is so much more inside than Hunter and ESPECIALLY Macrae.
It's a stupid comparison, he would be your second best player, not just "duking it out" with some of your outside mids.
He is also our second best player, behind Heppell.

Especially Macrae? Macrae is twice as inside as what Hunter is.

 

[TiAn_]

Merrett would be your most consistent midfielder by a stretch. Probably gets more votes than Bont too considering he had 19 in the bottom side.

Hahaha get your hand off it. Hunter was collecting 30 touches like it was the morning paper last year. Not to mention Macrae, Dahlhaus, Bont...

 

[Rack Watts]

Hunter isn't that far off Merrett but you knew bringing him into this would just have Essendon fans s**t on him.

We all rate Hunter, but comparing him to Merrett is silly.
Merrett is more like a better Josh Carr, if anyone.

 

[Rack Watts]

Hahaha get your hand off it. Hunter was collecting 30 touches like it was the morning paper last year. Not to mention Macrae, Dahlhaus, Bont...

Merrett is better than Macrae, Dahlhaus and Hunter.
Why are they even entering this thread? it is about Merrett, Cripps and Bont.

 

[TiAn_]

Merrett is so much more inside than Hunter and ESPECIALLY Macrae.
It's a stupid comparison, he would be your second best player, not just "duking it out" with some of your outside mids.
He is also our second best player, behind Heppell.

It's a perfect comparison. I bet at the end of the year Merrett's stats look a lot like Hunter's last year... If he keeps this form up.

Macrae was a beast when Libba was out. Showing your ignorance right now. You can check the stats if you want.

Our second best player? His resume is growing by the minute!

 

[Bomberblitzer]

Hahaha get your hand off it. Hunter was collecting 30 touches like it was the morning paper last year. Not to mention Macrae, Dahlhaus, Bont...

I love how opposition supporters were discrediting Merrett in 2016 in spite of the fact that he was racking up 30+ every week because teams 'weren't worried' about Essendon. Now he does it against Hawthorn with all the players back and people like you come up with more reasons to discredit him.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you don't rate Merrett, but don't be surprised when everyone else pulls you up on s**t opinions.

 

[Jobe Watson]

Haha it's spot on, he's playing the Hunter role now that the midfield is back, just as I predicted.

The "Hunter role"? Hunter had 5 or more clearances twice last year despite constantly racking up 25 touches. Merrett did it 9 times and once again had 5 clearances this round while Hunter had 0.

Hunter is a decent player; feeds off the hard work of Dahlhaus and Bontempelli and is a good link-up player. Not even on Merrett's level though.

 

[Rack Watts]

Especially Macrae? Macrae is twice as inside as what Hunter is.

I meant to say that the other way around, apologies.

 

[EssendonPride]

It's a perfect comparison. I bet at the end of the year Merrett's stats look a lot like Hunter's last year... If he keeps this form up.

Macrae was a beast when Libba was out. Showing your ignorance right now. You can check the stats if you want.

Our second best player? His resume is growing by the minute!

Terrible comparison, but Merrett's stats were better than hunters last year, no reason to think he's suddenly going to get worse.
Bont's still the better player, relax

 

[citizen-erased]

This is going to be the thread all year.
Merrett will snag AA if he keeps up what we've seen over the last 12 months. its hard not to notice a complete midfielder who has both an inside and outside game, plus the tackling, plus the 4 quarters of output and the running he puts in to get into space.
His only knock is he isn't a goalscorer. Which isn't surprising because he spends a lot of time getting the ball forward rather than pushing forward to receive.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

Prior to today isn't that what Merrett was doing?

Don't know how you can punish players just because their in s**t teams

Uh, no? Not even remotely?

 

[LeverPuller]

This is going to be the thread all year.
Merrett will snag AA if he keeps up what we've seen over the last 12 months. its hard not to notice a complete midfielder who has both an inside and outside game, plus the tackling, plus the 4 quarters of output and the running he puts in to get into space.
His only knock is he isn't a goalscorer. Which isn't surprising because he spends a lot of time getting the ball forward rather than pushing forward to receive.

Genuine question, did he make the 40 last year? He was certainly in the discussion.

 

[mad4freo]

Merrett's skills for me are the underrated facet of his game. His i50s are always inch perfect and he nails the right options quickly when kicking the ball. It's why he gets so many handball recieves from teammates.

 

[Rack Watts]

Merrett's skills for me are the underrated facet of his game. His i50s are always inch perfect and he nails the right options quickly when kicking the ball. It's why he gets so many handball recieves from teammates.

Forwards would absolutely love him, he weights the ball perfectly to forwards running towards goal, and kicks it incredibly well to where a leading forward should be. Daniher and Fantasia have no excuse not to kick 50 each this year.

 

[Milanista28]

His kicking is ridiculous, Like said above he'd be one of the best inside 50 kickers in the game certainly our best with Tippa IMO.

 

[mad4freo]

His kicking is ridiculous, Like said above he'd be one of the best inside 50 kickers in the game certainty our best with Tippa IMO.

tonight he had like 3 or 4 that stood out to me

 

[Lance Uppercut]

Haha Bombers fans rushing in the second Merrett has a Lachie Hunter-esque game.

Oh god how embarrassing for you. Having to denigrate Merrett to feel better about Bont

 

[TiAn_]

Merrett is better than Macrae, Dahlhaus and Hunter.
Why are they even entering this thread? it is about Merrett, Cripps and Bont.

Macrae & Dahl too? Wowee.

I love how opposition supporters were discrediting Merrett in 2016 in spite of the fact that he was racking up 30+ every week because teams 'weren't worried' about Essendon. Now he does it against Hawthorn with all the players back and people like you come up with more reasons to discredit him.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you don't rate Merrett, but don't be surprised when everyone else pulls you up on s**t opinions.

Haha how is comparing him to one of our players that I clearly rate discrediting him. It's just an apt comparison. Very sensitive.

The "Hunter role"? Hunter had 5 or more clearances twice last year despite constantly racking up 25 touches. Merrett did it 9 times and once again had 5 clearances again this round while Hunter had 0.

Hunter is a decent player; feeds off the hard work of Dahlhaus and Bontempelli and is a good link-up player. Not even on Merrett's level though.

Merrett averaged 1.9 more clearances and 2 more CPs than Hunter last year. Hunter is our most outside player, aside from Daniel. Merrett is hardly Chris Judd by comparison..

Terrible comparison, but Merrett's stats were better than hunters last year, no reason to think he's suddenly going to get worse.
Bont's still the better player, relax

Sure, but Merrett was sharing the midfield with who last year? And Hunter shares his with?..

Put Merrett in the Bulldogs team and he's Hunter. Doesn't mean he's not a good player, but a few reallyneed some perspective when trying to slot him into the top 10 players in the league and as the second best player in the reigning premiers.

Oh god how embarrassing for you. Having to denigrate Merrett to feel better about Bont

Haha what drivel. But I've learned stupid comments like that come up far more often when your team wins the flag and you have a champion player. Get over it.

 

[JayJ20]

As good as Merrett is, right now, Bont is better. Bont is clear number 1.

I still maintain that Cripps and Merrett are equal. They are different players so it is hard to compare

But you cannot underestimate Merrett because of his stunning rate of improvement. I remember when we were laughed at when some tried to say that he was better than Billings. Then we were laughed at when saying that he is close to Cripps.

Never underestimate a hard worker

 

[Rack Watts]

I don't think I have ever read so many s**t replies to a bunch of multi-quote.
Rapid-fire s**t.

Merrett would be your second best player, try not to be too mad about it. The dogs are a good team because they all play their part, it's not a side full of stars. Bontempelli is a star, as is Merrett but he isn't as good as Bontempelli. Hunter is a very good player, as is Dahlhaus and Macrae.

Merrett gets 1% better every game.

 

[JayJ20]

I always say that it really depends on what type of player you are after.

Zach Merrett is probably closest in comparison to Sam Mitchell and I very much rate Sam Mitchell as a generational midfielder.

Since Fyfe and Bont broke out, people have been obsessed with your tall, 190cm+, strong, heavy and dominant mids when in previous years, height wasn't really looked at. The success of these two players has changed people's view as to what is considered a "top tier" player. Nowadays, height, weight, role and strength are considered when labelling a midfielder top tier as opposed to just performance.

Kerr, Cousins, Akermanis and Mitchell aren't really that tall at all. In fact, all are sub 180cm, yet all were rated as top tier players in their era. Even Gary Ablett is only 182cm.

That's why some rave on about Cripps (190cm, 88kg) and Bont (at 192cm, 85kg) while overlooking Zach Merrett (180cm, 77kg), someone that has matched or arguably even outperformed one of them. Yet in previous eras, Merrett would have easily been considered as one of the best youth to come through.

Same reason why Oliver (187cm, 88kg) is rated by some as better than Parish (180cm, 78kg) despite Parish being quite ahead in output to date.

It was also the knock on McGrath before the draft (I admit that I also had the same view). It's because everyone is now looking for the new Bont as opposed to say the new Mitchell or the new Ablett.

It's also why Josh Kelly (183cm and 78kg) is continuously being underrated. People only are just starting to rate him as high as they should. Even Caleb Daniel will see himself underrated as years go by because of his height.

Zach Merrett's season last year is one of the best seasons from a 20 year old player that I have ever seen. With other senior players back, expect him to hit the scoreboard and become a damaging mid to take his game to the next level. He'll be up against it because of his height compared to the other 2 players, but he's definitely in the same tier as Cripps (with Bont being a tier above the 2)

I still maintain this and it is right on display in this thread

 

[calyam]

Hunter isn't that far off Merrett but you knew bringing him into this would just have Essendon fans s**t on him.

AFL Player Ratings:

Merrett: 32nd
Hunter: 123rd

Hunter's ranking is great for a 22 year old but in this thread we are discussing three young players who have not just been great for their age but outstanding for any age. Hunter isn't in that discussion right now.

 

[citizen-erased]

Genuine question, did he make the 40 last year? He was certainly in the discussion.

nah. Tough group to crack the midfielders and we finished last.
19 votes on brownlow night though. with 3 wins.
Doing his (sort of) uncle's legacy at the club proud.

 

[citizen-erased]

I still maintain this and it is right on display in this thread

Mitchell comparison is spot on.