Opinion Men's 2023 Leadership Group - Merrett/McGrath captain/vice

Who should be in the 2023 leadership group? [Pick up to 7]

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If they really want Heppell there to support the new captain then surely it must be this year - he's no guarantee to be best 22 in 2023 let alone in 2024.
 
DERO said:
I was not being serious.
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I know, I wasn’t taking the specific example of Stringer seriously. Biggest man child of them all.

But I think it does raise an interesting side bar discussion, given that apparently none of our senior players are mature enough to lead except for Dyson Heppell.

While I doubt Jake as a leader will ever be more than a joke, others would grow into the role if given responsibility for it. I don’t think you ever really know what people are capable of until they’re put to the test.
 

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Merrett is the likely successor however question marks remain about his on field manner & effort. Perhaps this would change with greater fitness levels, coach & responsibility? You never know until you place people into these roles.

Redman is my choice for VC. His on field hunger & standards in training lean towards it. Plus he's got some mongrel about him that leaders need when the time arises.

Really hope Ben Hobbs stays on his current trajectory. The kid is a cracker.
 
www.theage.com.au

Essendon have chance to continue ‘refresh’ with captaincy decision

Essendon hinted during the week that Dyson Heppell was set to retain the captaincy, but is the time right for someone else to take over?
www.theage.com.au www.theage.com.au

Essendon have chance to continue ‘refresh’ with captaincy decision​

Marc McGowan

ByMarc McGowan​

February 12, 2023 — 4.48pm

Change for the sake of it is rarely a good thing.

But what new Essendon coach Brad Scott might be weighing up while considering his captain for this year, is whether the Bombers need even more separation from a turbulent recent past.
Scott is already proving a breath of fresh air as Ben Rutten’s replacement at a proud club that also experienced significant board turnover last year.

Dyson Heppell has been captain since replacing Jobe Watson for the 2017 season, and earned praise mid-week from Scott, who said he “couldn’t be more impressed” with the veteran and that there was a “strong likelihood” he would lead the club again.

At the same time, he left the door ajar for a different outcome, saying he was open to co-captains and that the players would have a strong say.
For Heppell’s part, he revealed pre-Christmas he was “not tied to the role” and wanted to mentor whomever his successor was before heading into retirement.

There is a suspicion at Tullamarine, shared seemingly by the 30-year-old’s suitor last year in Gold Coast, that the end is nigh for him as a footballer.
The Bombers were willing to offer Heppell only a one-year deal, leading to him discussing his future with the Suns, where he could have played for two more seasons before transitioning into coaching.

Heppell turns 31 in May and has enjoyed a very good career, from becoming Essendon’s first Rising Star winner in 2011, to being named an All-Australian and winning the Bombers’ club champion award three years later, and starting this season on 213 games.

Is Dyson Heppell still the right captain for the Bombers?


There is, however, some chance this becomes a similar situation to Ben Stratton’s second season in charge of Hawthorn in 2020, when he struggled for form and his spot in the side came under threat. Stratton retired at the end of that year.
The Hawks’ players voted in another short-term captain in Ben McEvoy as Stratton’s replacement. McEvoy joined Stratton in retirement at the end of last season, with James Sicily now the hot favourite to be the next face of Hawthorn.

Adelaide, Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong and North Melbourne will also have new skippers in 2023, while the Brisbane Lions and GWS may make a change as well.
The Dockers appear outwardly to have encouraged Nat Fyfe to relinquish the reins, with Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Alex Pearce the remaining leadership group members from last season. That would not have been an easy conversation, but Fremantle clearly saw benefit in a fresh voice.

Only Heppell knows if he is as comfortable in handing the job over as he claimed to be in December, and he may still be the best candidate for the job, anyway. But the Bombers do have genuine alternative options.

Zach Merrett is Essendon’s best player, was vice-captain last year and has been an official leader for several seasons, barring his strange omission in 2020.
Then there is the always-impressive Andy McGrath – the deputy vice-captain a year ago – while Mason Redman would be willing to step up if the opportunity arose. Maybe there are others in contention, too.

Dual All-Australian Merrett turns 28 in October, McGrath 25 in June, and Redman 26 in August. They are all experienced enough to handle the extra responsibility but young enough to keep the position for many years ahead.
Heppell will lose none of his leadership skills without the captaincy tag, or by sharing the role, but any of Merrett, McGrath and Redman could go to another level with that honour.

​

One thing Heppell has consistently displayed, both privately and publicly, is that he is a team-first player who fiercely defends the Bombers.
Essendon’s new chairman, David Barham, declared at the club’s AGM in mid-December that they finally had the “right” people in place to succeed again.
The Bombers, as is well-documented, have not won a final since 2004 and tumbled backwards last year to win only seven games in a bottom-four finish.
Here is the chance for Essendon to continue the “refresh” while still benefiting from Heppell’s experience and leadership in his final year or so as a player.

We will find out soon enough whether the Dons take it, with a decision set to be made and announced before their practice match against Gold Coast on February 23.
 
I could see Co- Captains

The Captain has to be best 22, and not a guy there by reputation more then production so that rules out both Heppell and McGrath.

In terms of the group I’d want a group of 7.

1 Captain
1 line captain
Heppell as Co-Captain who doesn’t always play AFL
AMT as an indigenous representative

Don’t really care who’s “one of the boys” as when you’re trying to change culture. You build culture around your captains personality.

Would hope the group is
Ridley, Redman, Draper, Wright, Heppell AMT
 
jdstorm said:
I could see Co- Captains

The Captain has to be best 22, and not a guy there by reputation more then production so that rules out both Heppell and McGrath.

In terms of the group I’d want a group of 7.

1 Captain
1 line captain
Heppell as Co-Captain who doesn’t always play AFL
AMT as an indigenous representative

Don’t really care who’s “one of the boys” as when you’re trying to change culture. You build culture around your captains personality.

Would hope the group is
Ridley, Redman, Draper, Wright, Heppell AMT
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McGrath not best 22 by performance?

I guess our best 22 by performance has maybe 10 players then.
 
It seems like Heppell is going to remain from what’s in the media lately.

Maybe it’s an opportunity to have two or even three co captains for the year. Keep Hepp then have Merrett and Redman or McGrath. The best of the two non-Hepp choices gets to take the mantle next year. Hepp can still be there in an official capacity to help with transition but also should be able to be dropped if there is another clearly best 22 co-captain.
 
eth-dog said:
McGrath not best 22 by performance?

I guess our best 22 by performance has maybe 10 players then.
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The new coach is literally changing his position because he wasn’t good enough as a midfielder/wing and hoping he will live up to his potential when moved back to the spot he played as a rookie.

If that isn’t the definition of fringe I don’t know what is. I hope he establishes himself at his new position but so far he’s proven nothing and Mass is providing selection pressure in the VFL.

I’d say there was closer to 6-8 players who pick themselves on performance in an established role.

Ridley, Redman, Draper (no competition but hardly elite) Parish, Merrett, Wright. Possibly Martin and Zerk.(also minimal competition)
 
jdstorm said:
The new coach is literally changing his position because he wasn’t good enough as a midfielder/wing and hoping he will live up to his potential when moved back to the spot he played as a rookie.

If that isn’t the definition of fringe I don’t know what is. I hope he establishes himself at his new position but so far he’s proven nothing and Mass is providing selection pressure in the VFL.

I’d say there was closer to 6-8 players who pick themselves on performance in an established role.

Ridley, Redman, Draper (no competition but hardly elite) Parish, Merrett, Wright. Possibly Martin and Zerk.(also minimal competition)
Click to expand...
Did you watch at all last year after the bye? He pretty much played half back the entire time. Scott didn't move him into defence.

The fact your requirement to not be fringe is to be elite in position says it all. You don't need to be elite to be a lock to start a season. You need to be AFL standard, which is what all of McGrath, Langford, Caldwell, Shiel (who is a better player than Parish, by the way), Snelling (when fit), Laverde, Stringer (when fit), Kelly and Guelfi (when fit) are in addition to your 8. Obviously I'd like to see guys like Snelling, Laverde, Kelly and Guelfi get upgraded but at this stage these guys are good AFL level players.
 

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jdstorm said:
If that isn’t the definition of fringe I don’t know what is.
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It's a player that's in and out of a side constantly.
 
Does the captain normally sit on the left or the right of the coach in the team photo? 🤔

1028442.jpg
 
eth-dog said:
Did you watch at all last year after the bye? He pretty much played half back the entire time. Scott didn't move him into defence.

The fact your requirement to not be fringe is to be elite in position says it all. You don't need to be elite to be a lock to start a season. You need to be AFL standard, which is what all of McGrath, Langford, Caldwell, Shiel (who is a better player than Parish, by the way), Snelling (when fit), Laverde, Stringer (when fit), Kelly and Guelfi (when fit) are in addition to your 8. Obviously I'd like to see guys like Snelling, Laverde, Kelly and Guelfi get upgraded but at this stage these guys are good AFL level players.
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This seems like more of a best 23 discussion so I’m not sure this is the right place for this but here goes

My requirement for being an automatic selection is being a good AFL player. Ie would a good team like Geelong/Brisbane/Melbourne ect have room for you in their best 18. Or would your play be close to their equivalent player.

Ie Is Draper a top 10 ruck ect

If your just an average AFL player then to me your competing with Good VFL players for the spot.

In the case of the Shiel/Parish/Merrett trio I think all are good AFL players (I know many on here blast Parish for his defensive efforts so we’ll just agree to disagree here) but only 2 fit together at any one time which makes one of them not best 18 which complicates matters in terms of leadership.

In terms of McGrath, I’ve seen him play halfback. I watched every game last season. I don’t rate him specifically his disposal (although I haven’t seen many stats on that) Think he plays a more accountable small role with some burst. Could be useful doing that maybe but with Mass having a similar ideal role and an accurate kick I think the competition for that spot is tight. Hobbs could even get a look at that role if Scott follows the Sydney developmental model of FWD>BCK>MID

I think Caldwell is good but still needs to solidify his new HF/tagging role (Which he’s essentially taking from Snelling) but him and Durham are my 9th/10th guys picked. I just think there’s fierce competition at those HF/Wing spots with Langford, Heppell, Tsatas (When fit) Davey, Snelling, Guelfi, Perkins (if Mid Experiment fails) all fighting For the 3rd wing/2nd HF role behind Martin, Durham and Caldwell. Decent players but not an easy selection question
 
Its disappointing to have seen such significant change within the club and yet we find ourselves unable to make the tough call with regard to the captaincy. It’s also a shame that Heppell doesn’t have the insight into his own position within the club and the list to recognise that it’s time to move on. We’ve seen many players and leaders across the league move on when appropriate or be moved on when they’re not in a position to continue the role they once held. The Essington way is to foster mediocre and steadfastly refuse to enforce standards so I expect we’ll wheel out tired old Heps as captain and pick him week in week out in 2023 despite him not being up to standard, the younger players see the acceptance of the mediocre within the club and fall into line accordingly and we can rinse and repeat as we have done for the past 15 years.
 
Last edited:
IggypopsTshirt said:
Its disappointing to have seen such significant change within the club and yet we find ourselves unable to make the tough call with regard to the captaincy. It’s also a shame that Heppell doesn’t have the insight into his own position within the club and the list to recognise that it’s time to move on. We’ve seen many players and leaders across the league move on when appropriate or be moved on when they’re not in a position to continue the role they once held. The Essington way is to foster mediocre and steadfastly refuse to enforce standards so I expect we’ll wheel out tired old Heps as captain and pick him week in week out in 2023 despite him not being up to standard, the younger players see the acceptance of the mediocre within the club and fall into line accordingly and we can rinse and repeat as we have done for the past 15 years.
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IggypopsTshirt said:
Its disappointing to have seen such significant change within the club and yet we find ourselves unable to make the tough call with regard to the captaincy. It’s also a shame that Heppell doesn’t have the insight into his own position within the club and the list to recognise that it’s time to move on. We’ve seen many players and leaders across the league move on when appropriate or be moved on when they’re not in a position to continue the role they once held. The Essington way is to foster mediocre and steadfastly refuse to enforce standards so I expect we’ll wheel out tired old Heps as captain and pick him week in week out in 2023 despite him not being up to standard, the younger players see the acceptance of the mediocre within the club and fall into line accordingly and we can rinse and repeat as we have done for the past 15 years.
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aged well;)
 
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