AFL Player # 7: Indefatigable Zach Merrett (c) - Not going anywhere

[Beerfish]

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

 

[eth-dog]

He’s not a huge man, his technique is close to perfect. Opposistion look at him and either look to brush him off or run over the top of him,happens many times. Looks can be deceiving with Zach, hard as a cats head and better tackler than Heppell.

And I've seen them do that plenty of times too. I'm not saying he's bad but I wouldn't have him close to top 5 honestly. Fringe top 10 at best.

 

[DERO]

My boy.

 

[windyhill]

And I've seen them do that plenty of times too. I'm not saying he's bad but I wouldn't have him close to top 5 honestly. Fringe top 10 at best.

We’ll agree to disagree. I just love the way, as a bloke with a small stature he steels himself against bigger opponents.

 

[jmoo wan]

i’m going to start delivering feedback to all the shit posters on this forum that your shit posts are shitty, and then I will be made captain of this board.

 

[eth-dog]

i’m going to start delivering feedback to all the s**t posters on this forum that your s**t posts are shitty, and then I will be made captain of this board.

I tried that. It doesn't work

 

[supportyourteam]

A captain or Merret. If he and Great Scott have the wright relationship, they could drape the club doesn't matter. Happy

 

[carnthedons]

Good stuff, seems like a ripper fella.

I’m eagerly awaiting the best meme/content from this though, will need to go some way to top the “I’m the captain now” from Heppell’s announcement

 

[carnthedons]

Love this kid will captain the club one day.

Smart poster

 

[jmoo wan]

Smart poster

yes! get him in!

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Not being captain won’t stop Redman giving honest feedback. He was pointing a few thing out to Stringer the other week.

It holds more weight if coming from the captain. Anyway, facts are Zach is captain and I hope my doubts are resoundingly proven unfounded.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Redman literally has one good year and people fall for the Reddog captaincy meme. 1 year in BnF contention does not a captaincy make.

And delivering hard truths isnt the only trait of a captain.

In my book he's had more than one good year and has other traits. Other than being our best player I don't see much of what Zach has TBH. Hopefully he shows them now.

 

[Schnitzengruben]

Full vid through that link on the Bomber website.

 

[andleanback]

He’s not a huge man, his technique is close to perfect. Opposistion look at him and either look to brush him off or run over the top of him,happens many times. Looks can be deceiving with Zach, hard as a cats head and better tackler than Heppell.

He’s a much better tackler than 2018+ heppell

That’s when he chooses to play with intent. Hopefully that’s every game now he’s captain

 

[ghostdog]

Redman literally has one good year and people fall for the Reddog captaincy meme. 1 year in BnF contention does not a captaincy make.

And delivering hard truths isnt the only trait of a captain.

I reckon the ability to do that, with some of these players, is important.

 

[dank420_]

I tried that. It doesn't work

Gotta lead by example Eth.

 

[Bipolar Bear]

Cannot believe the critical response this has copped. He's always been a heads down, and work hard kind. He speaks well and wants the flag badly. Training standards will go up with Zach as captain. Huge fan! Was worried they'd **** this one up, but they've picked the right man.

 

[andleanback]

Cannot believe the critical response this has copped. He's always been a heads down, and work hard kind. He speaks well and wants the flag badly. Training standards will go up with Zach as captain. Huge fan! Was worried they'd **** this one up, but they've picked the right man.

Time will tell if he’s the right man. What I do know, he was the only man for the job at this stage.

 

[jwint43]

He reminds me of Jack Steele

9

Jack Steele

Age

29

Ht

187cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.9

5star

K

8.7

3star

HB

12.2

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

6.8

5star

CL

3.6

5star

D

21.3

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

11.3

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

5.8

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

16.8

4star

K

5.0

2star

HB

11.8

5star

M

2.6

3star

T

6.4

5star

CL

3.6

5star

. Not loud but prefers to lead through setting the standards each week. He pretty much said as much on Triple M today. I think he is harder then he is given credit for but not a player that will likely have on field acts that rally the team. Will be interested to see how he goes, not sure who else would have been ready to step up.

 

[ghostdog]

Cannot believe the critical response this has copped. He's always been a heads down, and work hard kind. He speaks well and wants the flag badly. Training standards will go up with Zach as captain. Huge fan! Was worried they'd **** this one up, but they've picked the right man.

It's a case of Napoleon vs. Boxer for me, but overall, 4 legs good and 2 legs bad, so I too am glad they have not cocked it up, short of a Napoleon as we are.

Pretty sure that's a bad analogy but I just got up.

 

[ant555]

Agreed. I can't see Zach delivering hard truths.

That said, he is our skipper. Congratulations Zach. Speak up.

Not sure about that . Apart from the defensive issues one reason he was dropped from the leadership group was he was considered a bit hard on his team mates . Some thought it was a bit hypocritical giving them solid feed back when he was not exactly the poster guy for doing everything defensively.
Will be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Yeah the whole dropped the leadership group stuff seems to give vibes that he’s not a natural leader as some are. But older and hopefully wiser now to take in the job. Agree with others in that there weren’t many other candidates

 

[ghostdog]

Not sure about that . Apart from the defensive issues one reason he was dropped from the leadership group was he was considered a bit hard on his team mates . Some thought it was a bit hypocritical giving them solid feed back when he was not exactly the poster guy for doing everything defensively.
Will be interesting to see how it goes.

That is good to know. Hopefully he lifts his game to avoid the hypocrite label and continues to speak up when he needs to.

Interesting though, that in his Captaincy vid he says he's not the vocal type.

 

[DERO]

Zach is very direct and determined to be better. Hopefully his drive to be better will help him overcome any perceived deficiencies. It’ll be interesting to see whether he can adjust his approach to suit the different personalities at the club now that he will be taking on the responsibility of getting the best out of others and not just himself.

Heppell seemed pretty nice and it is abundantly clear that he is well liked as a human being. In my opinion, being respected as a leader is a lot more important than being liked and hopefully Merrett can maintain the respect of his teammates as he works on developing a winning culture as he navigates the crucial conversations. It is better to make the right decision than the popular one I think. He’ll have a harder edge and will set the right example but I suspect the challenge for him might be how he handles those who are not measuring up to his standards.

He deserves his opportunity and if it does not work out there may be others that have time to develop that can step up if required.

 

[Vander18]

It's a case of Napoleon vs. Boxer for me, but overall, 4 legs good and 2 legs bad, so I too am glad they have not cocked it up, short of a Napoleon as we are.

Pretty sure that's a bad analogy but I just got up.

Early in the morning for Orwell mate….

 

[I Remember Bluey]

My boy.

Scuse me