AFL Player # 7: Indefatigable Zach Merrett (c) - Interview with The Age - 20/9

[Beerfish]

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

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Lore.

Do you, hereby, like Zerrett, confirm that your current BigFooty name is Lore?

 

[Lore]

AFL: At all times your right arm was pulling Sparrow down towards the ground.​

​

Merrett: I respectfully disagree. I wasn't pulling him directly towards the ground. I'm doing everything to pull him onto me. It feels like his body connects with mine as I hit the ground as well.​

 

[Lore]

Merrett: You react on habits and instinct and we're certainly coached and educated massively around the safety element. I'm hoping my habit or instinct was to do that (pull him onto me).​

 

[Beerfish]

 

[Lore]

Merrett: Players with the ball are going to try and fight tackles, I felt Tom used his right arm to semi-push my chest, so I'm trying to pull him closer to me to not allow any space for him to get the ball out.​

 

[Schnitzengruben]

Someone get Johnnie Cochran in there, stat!

 

[Lore]

If you open it properly (link) it refreshes itself:

 

[justlookingaround]

There is a massive, massive difference between what a guy like Nathan Broad

35

Nathan Broad

Age

31

Ht

192cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.7

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

4.3

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

192.9

3star

D

12.3

3star

K

8.3

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

4.1

4star

T

1.0

2star

MG

192.9

3star

D

12.8

4star

K

8.4

4star

HB

4.4

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

2.0

4star

did the other week and what Zach's been pulled up on here.
One of them deserves the book thrown at them, the other is the sort of thing that can happen completely innocuously in a tackle.

 

[Lore]

The AFL says Merrett's tackle fulfils two of the four dot points re dangerous tackle: ​

• Player being tackled in a vulnerable position
• Player being tackled is slung, driven or rotated into the ground with excessive force.

 

[Lore]

AFL says Merrett's right arm is wrapped around Sparrow's neck, "which essentially ensures Sparrow's head is being taken towards the ground."​

​

​

 

[Lore]

the comments on the live blog... and all the downvotes.

 

[Lore]

Pane (AFL): Potential to cause injury needs to be taken into account when a tackle drives a player's head into the ground or has the potential to drive the player's head into the ground.​

 

[Beerfish]

These guys are cooked.

 

[Lore]

The AFL argues this tackle was inherently dangerous because of Merrett's right hand position on the back of Sparrow's jumper.​

 

[Beerfish]

Pane (AFL): Potential to cause injury needs to be taken into account when a tackle drives a player's head into the ground or has the potential to drive the player's head into the ground.​

Most tackles could potentially do this...

 

[Lore]

Ihle (Essendon): Sparrow's left arm is free at all times. He is holding the ball and chooses to hold onto the ball. He's not in a vulnerable position because of something Merrett did, but rather Sparrow.​

 

[DapperDon]

No more tackling back of jumpers, it can cause injury!

 

[Lore]

Ihle (Essendon): Sparrow is not lifted off the ground at any point and this is not a tackle with more than one action. The AFL tries to distinguish between right arm and left arm in a way we say is fictitious.​

 

[Lore]

Ihle (Essendon): Just as Merrett gets hold of Sparrow, his feet go out underneath him and Sparrow. It's also clear Sparrow is pulled down onto Merrett. It's demonstrated plainly by the footage.​

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

This is heaps more exciting than expected

 

[Lore]

Ihle (Essendon): Merrett's right arm is fully cocked. He's not pulling Sparrow down with the right arm, rather he is holding on.​

 

[justlookingaround]

When was the last time we were this invested in a tribunal?

 

[Lore]

When was the last time we were this invested in a tribunal?

court of arbitration for sport...

 

[TheGrizz]

court of arbitration for sport...

 

[Lore]

Ihle (Essendon): Sparrow is trying to burst through the front-on tackle. The Tribunal should ask: Who is the prime mover in the direction of Sparrow tipping forward? In my submission, it is Sparrow trying to free himself of Merrett's grip.​