AFL Player # 7: Indefatigable Zach Merrett (c) - 5 time Crichton Medallist! 🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅

[Beerfish]

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

 

[andleanback]

You do not have to be great to be leading the coaches votes. If your side is full of B grade players then as a B grade player you can be one of the better ones.

Top 5-6 players are usually all Australian locks, and go close to the brownlow so the form stacks up.

 

[ant555]

Lachie Neale is leading the coaches votes. He is a pretty handy player.

Carn mate. You are allowed to admit that Merrett is at least a little bit good.

Did not say he was not good.Never have said he is not good. Just saying if you are the 25th best midfielder in the comp but one of the best two in your side you can be further up the coaches votes . It is not an absolute as you have the chance to get votes for being your best player despite not being up there in a collective bunch. It highlights where we are. Merritt our best midfielder. Dangefield, Geelongs best midfielder. Martin , Richmonds best midfielder.

 

[ant555]

Top 5-6 players are usually all Australian locks, and go close to the brownlow so the form stacks up.

So he is as good as Martin then .............................................

 

[carnthedons]

Did not say he was not good.Never have said he is not good. Just saying if you are the 25th best midfielder in the comp but one of the best two in your side you can be further up the coaches votes . It is not an absolute as you have the chance to get votes for being your best player despite not being up there in a collective bunch. It highlights where we are. Merritt our best midfielder. Dangefield, Geelongs best midfielder. Martin , Richmonds best midfielder.

Fair enough, not sure he’s our best mid though and think that’s part of our issues. Shiel, Merrett and McGrath are all at a similar level with none of them at the superstar level. No top 10 mids but probably 3 top 40 mids if that makes sense.

 

[carnthedons]

He's a fourth or fifth best mid on a strong list. Being number one or two on ours we assume he will be more damaging when he eventually gets less attention (we have ben doing this for years see Zaka before him). This is what that looks like and it's not damaging enough.

If he wins our B&F again plus makes AA then great - we should seek maximum value from a contender and start building something dangerous in the middle for the first time in 20 years.

Where is he going that he’s the fourth or even fifth best mid? West Coast if you got 2019 T Kelly, GWS if you got a 2017 J Kelly, Footscray if you got 2019 J Dunkley. That’s about it. Adelaide he’s their best, Brisbane at worst 3rd, Carlton 2nd, Collingwood 2nd/3rd, Fremantle 2nd/3rd etc

 

[JayJ20]

He has definitely lifted. Has been our best mid this year.

He's going to like having Daniher back in the side.

 

[CBombers17]

Where is he going that he’s the fourth or even fifth best mid? West Coast if you got 2019 T Kelly, GWS if you got a 2017 J Kelly, Footscray if you got 2019 J Dunkley. That’s about it. Adelaide he’s their best, Brisbane at worst 3rd, Carlton 2nd, Collingwood 2nd/3rd, Fremantle 2nd/3rd etc

Depends how you rate Merrett of course but he's arguably currently 4th best mid as Essendon - let alone clubs with strong midfields. We are taking about a player who was dropped from the leadership group - apparently for not playing to team defensive plans - where do you rank that contribution/performance in terms of value in a team trying to play together defensively?

Ive said 1 or 2 earlier but realistically that's kind. He would be behind Shiel, McGrath and probably Heppell when he gets back.

I'd rank him around the same as Zaka at the same age - when we should have traded him too.

None of the other mids are going anywhere and we have issues to fix in there if we want to be a top 4 side so trading this guy while he has currency is far from stupid.

 

[carnthedons]

Depends how you rate Merrett of course but he's arguably currently 4th best mid as Essendon - let alone clubs with strong midfields. We are taking about a player who was dropped from the leadership group - apparently for not playing to team defensive plans - where do you rank that contribution/performance in terms of value in a team trying to play together defensively?

Ive said 1 or 2 earlier but realistically that's kind. He would be behind Shiel, McGrath and probably Heppell when he gets back.

I'd rank him around the same as Zaka at the same age - when we should have traded him too.

Yeah I’m not gonna be able to agree with that. Zach’s had 4 consecutive years of double digit Brownlow votes (incl 19 in 2016 when we won 3 games) and an AA, Zaka only had 11 votes once and never made the squad.

 

[CBombers17]

Yeah I’m not gonna be able to agree with that. Zach’s had 4 consecutive years of double digit Brownlow votes (incl 19 in 2016 when we won 3 games) and an AA, Zaka only had 11 votes once and never made the squad.

Brownlow votes? Please.

Zaka at his best was as valuable as anything Merrett is doing this season - and I've never been a Zaka fan.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

The criticism that Merrett doesn't have hurt factor is bizarre when he's the leading midfielder for score involvement and inside 50's at the club by a long way. Also the leader in metres gained but that's a bit of a wank stat.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Brownlow votes? Please.

Zaka at his best was as valuable as anything Merrett is doing this season - and I've never been a Zaka fan.

Bro...

 

[carnthedons]

Brownlow votes? Please.

Zaka at his best was as valuable as anything Merrett is doing this season - and I've never been a Zaka fan.

Alright, Merrett has 2 crichtons to Zaka’s 1 in and hasn’t finished below 4th in the last 5 years

 

[JayJ20]

Depends how you rate Merrett of course but he's arguably currently 4th best mid as Essendon - let alone clubs with strong midfields. We are taking about a player who was dropped from the leadership group - apparently for not playing to team defensive plans - where do you rank that contribution/performance in terms of value in a team trying to play together defensively?

Ive said 1 or 2 earlier but realistically that's kind. He would be behind Shiel, McGrath and probably Heppell when he gets back.

I'd rank him around the same as Zaka at the same age - when we should have traded him too.

None of the other mids are going anywhere and we have issues to fix in there if we want to be a top 4 side so trading this guy while he has currency is far from stupid.

What?
Merrett is by far the best kick in our midfield group. The rest are average to poor kicks.

Merrett has been better than Shiel and Heppell. Shiel hasn't shown the consistency Merrett showed the last 5-6 weeks.
Merrett is currently better than McGrath, although I believe McGrath will pass him next year (and that isn't a digs at Merrett at all).
Heppell will slow down from here.

No way we'd trade him.

 

[Mr Bultitude]

FMD there's some average posts here.

He's 24 years old (25 in a month's time)

Danger is 30, Dusty 29. Hell, Neale is 27, which was the age Martin had arguably his career best season.

Watch the same crowd spit chips if we trade him and he takes it up a notch.

 

[CBombers17]

Alright, Merrett has 2 crichtons to Zaka’s 1 in and hasn’t finished below 4th in the last 5 years

Ever won the B&F in a shit side? Wasn't he droped from his leadership position for not doing team things? Depends what you value.

We have a history of not playing to team defensive instructions yet a guy who's had to be moved to a wing because he won't do it is untouchable? Please.

 

[CBombers17]

What?
Merrett is by far the best kick in our midfield group. The rest are average to poor kicks.

Merrett has been better than Shiel and Heppell. Shiel hasn't shown the consistency Merrett showed the last 5-6 weeks.
Merrett is currently better than McGrath, although I believe McGrath will pass him next year (and that isn't a digs at Merrett at all).
Heppell will slow down from here.

No way we'd trade him.

So you think he's better than Shiel and McGrath and i don't. So what?

He's a small, one way running, average paced accumulating winger who doesn't hit the scoreboard enough. They aren't untouchable.

 

[andleanback]

So he is as good as Martin then .............................................

Martin was awful in the first half of the season? I don’t know what point you’re trying to make. If a b grade player is constantly getting 8s and 10s in games off the respective coaches, then they’re obviously not a b grade player anymore. The same can be said for players who pop up again get 3s in the brownlow count, do they sustain it for the whole season... no.

 

[DERO]

ant555 you know I love your work mate and I know you know what you are talking about so don't take me disagreeing with you as a lack of respect.

We know that Zack was not voted back into the LG by his peers. Do we know that his peers took a dim view to his perceived lack of defensive effort or are we putting 2 and 2 together on the back of our own opinions? I can definitely see how you could come to a conclusion like that. Removing Merrett and keeping Zaka who is well know for not always going when he should kind of goes against the theory though doesn't it?

 

[CBombers17]

Bro...

What's Merrett giving us now that Zaka didn't then as per my point?

 

[ant555]

ant555 you know I love your work mate and I know you know what you are talking about so don't take me disagreeing with you as a lack of respect.

We know that Zack was not voted back into the LG by his peers. Do we know that his peers took a dim view to his perceived lack of defensive effort or are we putting 2 and 2 together on the back of our own opinions? I can definitely see how you could come to a conclusion like that. Removing Merrett and keeping Zaka who is well know for not always going when he should kind of goes against the theory though doesn't it?

Mate it is an opinion. Nothing more. Nothing less.

 

[ant555]

Martin was awful in the first half of the season? I don’t know what point you’re trying to make. If a b grade player is constantly getting 8s and 10s in games off the respective coaches, then they’re obviously not a b grade player anymore. The same can be said for players who pop up again get 3s in the brownlow count, do they sustain it for the whole season... no.

The point I am making is B grade players can score highly in the coaches votes.
Who cares how bad Dusty was early. He is still an A grade match winner. Like Dangerfield. Merritt has never proven to be any more than a good player. Thnat is not a bad thing but it is part of our problem. Our best midfielders are not in the top 20 in the comp.
I doubt you are trying to say Merritt is as good as Martin or has won games off his own performance like martin has.
Coaches votes are a good indicator of form but you can not use them to simply say this bloke is an A grade player in the same way super stars do not always win a brownlow.

 

[JayJ20]

So you think he's better than Shiel and McGrath and i don't. So what?

He's a small, one way running, average paced accumulating winger who doesn't hit the scoreboard enough. They aren't untouchable.

I'm not saying he is the perfect player, but you're underselling his impact. He doesn't score himself, but his scoreboard impact is in score involvements.

Kicking goals and running defensively are two areas he needs to improve in for sure, but what he does have gives him a point of difference in our midfield group.

Trading Merrett leaves us with Parish, McGrath, an injury prone Heppell and Shiel, who are all average to poor kicks. If we were to trade one person, then why would we trade our best kick when skills are clearly a big issue for us?

I don't disagree with your assessment regarding his weaknesses, but he is an important part of our side.

 

[andleanback]

The point I am making is B grade players can score highly in the coaches votes.
Who cares how bad Dusty was early. He is still an A grade match winner. Like Dangerfield. Merritt has never proven to be any more than a good player. Thnat is not a bad thing but it is part of our problem. Our best midfielders are not in the top 20 in the comp.
I doubt you are trying to say Merritt is as good as Martin or has won games off his own performance like martin has.
Coaches votes are a good indicator of form but you can not use them to simply say this bloke is an A grade player in the same way super stars do not always win a brownlow.

I never said Merrett is better than martin? All I said was merrett is having a good year... if he continues to finish the year strong he’ll be in the all aus squad of 40 and mostly finish pretty high in the brownlow. When in my previous comments did I say he was an a grader, although you can use coaches votes to see is having an excellent, consistent year. Petracca and Steele are examples of that.

 

[Lore]

Article from the end of July that I somehow missed and don't remember seeing anywhere here before either..

A leader of Merrett: How Zach's role has changed at Essendon

Zach Merrett is the same person he was last year, but he is not the same player. Essendon are not the same club.

www.theage.com.au

Just the quotey bits, without the editorialising:

Regarding dealing with the tag:

"I got a free ride in '16 and half of '17 then everyone put the clamps on. It was something I was aware of being likely to happen if I kept up that form. It was something I was working on with Hayden Skipworth probably two years or 30 months earlier, knowing tags were coming and working on how to deal with it, but practising it and doing it in practice is different to reality," he said.

"I didn't get frustrated if [Ed] Curnow beat me early days, you just know you have to work it out. Some guys tagged me well, other times I broke the tag. I think I looked at different ways I could influence the game and ways to influence play with a tag. Dyls [Dylan Shiel] is here and getting tagged and coping."

About his change of position (playing more of a balance between inside and outside, rather than purely as an inside mid):

"It's about playing to guys' strengths and we need to bring on players like Andrew McGrath and Darcy Parish. We needed to bring on more guys of we were going to challenge those top teams. If we can help three, four, five guys it gives us a great chance. I really like playing a role in that."

About not being in the leadership group this year:

"Initially it was a bit like how did that happen? I was captain for six games last year and vice-captain and then not in it [the leadership group] so it was a bit of a 'What has happened here?' It was disappointing for 48 hours or so but you move on pretty quickly."

The change in how Essendon voted on and selected their leaders meant he it was unlikely he would be a titled leader, but it was still sobering when it occurred

"I still have ambition to leadership roles at Essendon and the AFL," he said.

About the new coaching situation:

"Blake Caracella coming in has quickened the process [of changing the game plan]. 'Truck' [Rutten] had put his stamp on the defensive aspect and bringing in Blake complements with offence. It's not a huge shift. There is optimism around the place and the plan we have put in place."

 

[citizen-erased]

He's a fourth or fifth best mid on a strong list. Being number one or two on ours we assume he will be more damaging when he eventually gets less attention (we have ben doing this for years see Zaka before him). This is what that looks like and it's not damaging enough.

If he wins our B&F again plus makes AA then great - we should seek maximum value from a contender and start building something dangerous in the middle for the first time in 20 years.

This is one of the dumbest posts I have read on here for a while.

concur