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Zach Merrett
Merrett playing in April 2018.
Personal information
Full name Zachary Merrett
Date of birth (1995-10-03) 3 October 1995 (age 29)
Original team(s) Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup)/Melbourne Grammar (APS)
Draft No. 26, 2013 national draft
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Essendon
Number 7
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2014– Essendon 142 (46)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Zachary Merrett (born 3 October 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club.

AFL career

He grew up in Cobden, Victoria before boarding at Melbourne Grammar School on a cricket scholarship. He is the younger brother and teammate of Jackson Merrett.[1] He is sometimes referred to as "Zerrett" or "Junior" to easily differentiate between the brothers.

Merrett made his debut in the opening round of the 2014 AFL season against North Melbourne.[2] He was named as the substitute and came on late in the game, replacing Martin Gleeson.[3] He was rewarded with a nomination for the 2014 AFL Rising Star after he collected 22 disposals, three tackles, and two goals in the round 11 win against Richmond.[4]

The 2015 AFL season saw Merrett spend more time in the midfield.[5] In August, following Essendon's 87-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in round 18, it was announced that he would miss the remainder of the season with a major stress fracture in his foot.[6]

In round 21, 2016, he became the third youngest match day captain in Essendon history when he led the side against Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium. Under his leadership, they won just their second match for the season, defeating the Suns by six points.[7] He won the W.S. Crichton Medal as the club's best and fairest player for 2016, becoming the youngest player in 35 years to win the award.[8] A magnificent season was capped off by polling 19 votes in the 2016 Brownlow Medal. This was the third most votes for a player whose team won three or less games, and the most for a Bombers player since Jobe Watson polled 30 votes.

Merrett was named vice-captain for the 2017 AFL season. He had another fantastic season collecting 659 disposals, receiving his first selection in the All-Australian team and being named vice-captain in the 22under22 team for the second year in a row.[9][10]

His 2018 season failed to reach the heights of his previous, after being concussed in the opening round against the Adelaide Crows.[11] He was continuously tagged throughout the year, but showed signs of improvement as Essendon worked towards a resurgence.[12]

In January of the 2019 pre-season Merrett injured his ankle resulting in the use of a moon boot for 2 weeks however he was available for selection in round 1. Merrett went on to return to near his best footy during the 2019 season capped off with a 2nd club best and fairest award beating new Essendon recruit Dylan Shiel.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of 2020 [13]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2014 Essendon 27 20 11 2 170 134 304 67 79 0.6 0.1 8.5 6.7 15.2 3.4 4.0
2015 Essendon 7 17 4 4 186 195 381 60 98 0.2 0.2 10.9 11.5 22.4 3.5 5.8
2016 Essendon 7 22 7 7 349 308 657 110 136 0.3 0.3 15.9 14.0 29.9 5.0 6.2
2017 Essendon 7 22 9 8 382 277 659 95 122 0.4 0.4 21.4 11.8 30.0 6.4 4.8
2018 Essendon 7 22 5 7 281 309 590 69 132 0.2 0.3 12.8 14.0 26.8 3.1 6.0
2019 Essendon 7 23 8 10 338 313 651 90 124 0.3 0.4 14.7 13.6 28.3 3.9 5.4
2020 Essendon 7 16 2 2 221 199 420 69 55 0.1 0.1 13.8 12.4 26.3 4.3 3.4
Career 142 46 40 1927 1735 3662 560 746 0.3 0.3 13.6 12.2 25.8 3.9 5.3

References

  1. ^ Quayle, Emma (9 December 2013). "Brothers Zach and Jackson Merrett to play with the Bombers". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  2. ^ "AFL teams: Essendon names three debutants as a weekend of milestones awaits". ABC Online. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  3. ^ Bowen, Nick (21 March 2014). "Veterans lead charge as Dons dispatch flat Roos". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  4. ^ Landsberger, Sam (2 June 2014). "Essendon youngster Zach Merrett the Round 11 AFL Rising Star nominee". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  5. ^ Twomey, Callum (29 April 2015). "Zach Merrett: Quality over quantity". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  6. ^ Lerner, Ronny (4 August 2015). "Foot injury could bring Essendon youngster Zach Merrett's season to an end". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  7. ^ Conway, Simon (14 August 2016). "Merrett seeks out Selwood". EssendonFC.com.au. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  8. ^ Twomey, Callum (31 August 2016). "Young gun Don a runaway winner at Crichton Medal". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  9. ^ Waterworth, Ben (31 August 2017). "AFL All-Australian team for 2017 AFL season announced: Alex Rance named skipper of star-studded side". Fox Sports.
  10. ^ Waterworth, Ben (12 September 2017). "AFLPA's 2017 22under22 team revealed: Marcus Bontempelli named captain of young gun side". Fox Sports.
  11. ^ Morris, Tom (23 March 2018). "Essendon star Zach Merrett collected in brutal collision with Adelaide's Richard Douglas". Fox Sports.
  12. ^ Jackson, Zane (15 July 2018). "Continual improvement required". Essendon FC.
  13. ^ "Zach Merrett". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
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