Really think the meeting he had with Jobe, Hird, Lloyd has changed his approach to the game, he is letting the younger players take on the crucial ball and think it is a good thing, we should not be discouraged by the less impact he is having at the moment, he is still good just playing more behind the ball
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I like him playing off half back more, like Sam Mitchell did in his later career
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I’m not a fan of him at half back.
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His creative kicks off half back cost us a couple of times in a tight game. Prefer him up forward or midfield but having said that he’s probably going to end up adjusting to taking those kicks out of the backline and be a star down there, so worth persisting.
Not a fan of him down back, especially as it seemed to mean more of Perkins in the middle.
For the future of the team he is going to have to spend more time down back.
Whether that needs to happen now is up for debate, but I think we will see it more.
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Our future starting mid is Martin, Duz, Caldwell though… and then you sprinkle in Merrett, Parish, Perko… it’s a pretty good rotation!
Not Martin, we need him everywhere else! I would say it will be Reid, Caldwell and Duz
There’s no rule that says it has to be down back.
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Yeah no problem with that. I like him fwd
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or forward
I’m reluctant to criticise because of the enormous contribution he’s made overall, but I didn’t like his game last night. He seemed to lack his usual intensity, and his kicking was off, too.
If we are gonna redeploy him, move him forward. Our small forward stocks are poor, and Merrett is a brilliantly attacking field kick, a good pressure player and has had good tackling numbers across his career. I’d love to see a HF line of Merrett, Caddy, Martin. If we want another good ball user off half-back, just use it as an opportunity to pump some games into Johnson.
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Prefer him getting it and using it in the F50, he had less influence from the back half and a third of his possessions were from kick outs.
Nerd alert.
‘It’s fun’: The AFL superstar with an old-school hobby
By Carolyn Webb
June 1, 2025 — 6.47pm
He’s one of the AFL’s star midfielders, but off the field, Essendon captain Zach Merrett has an old-school hobby.
Since childhood, he has collected AFL player cards, and still does, when he’s not racking up possessions during Bombers games.
‘It’s awesome’: Bombers star Zach Merrett, left, signs cards for collector James Vincent at the Hobby Hangout XL Trading Card Show. Credit: Penny Stephens
As a guest at the Hobby Hangout XL Trading Card Show on Sunday, Merrett signed player cards for rapt fans.
One of Merrett’s treasured pieces is a 1954 card depicting his great-uncle, Collingwood premiership player Thorold Merrett. Merrett said there was “no way” he would sell it, but otherwise it was “fun” to find cards he’d sought, and “always exciting” to find a random gem.
First in line to have Merrett sign the card that marked his 2016 Essendon best-and-fairest award was James Vincent, 34, of Sydenham, an AFL card collector since childhood. “It’s awesome to meet the person who’s on the card and get their autograph,” Vincent said.
Proving analogue pastimes are not dead, more than 5000 people attended the Hobby Hangout XL event at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton.
Analogue hobbies are not dead: Thousands of trading cards fans packed the Royal Exhibition Building. Credit: Penny Stephens
It had 185 stalls – double the number at last year’s event at Melbourne Pavilion.
Co-organiser Tiffany Spurway said popular pieces on Sunday included Pokémon and NBA basketball cards and items featuring the Labubu monster character.
AFL trading cards dealer Shane Penrose said the hobby was popular with young adults.
Kids often quit, considering it childish, as teenagers. “But when they hit their early 20s, they say, ‘Hang on, this is cool’ and get back into it,” Penrose said.
Lifelong passion: Shane Penrose with a few of the cards he’s collected in the past 50 years. Credit: Penny Stephens
“I’ve seen guys spend thousands of dollars at a trading fair.”
Penrose, who owns about 500,000 football cards and runs the Melbourne Card Fair, started collecting at age six in 1975 when his grandmother, Louie, gave him a footy card from a bread packet depicting Collingwood star Peter McKenna.
Penrose later bought 20-cent packs of Scanlens chewing gum that contained random cards, and he traded big names like Richmond’s Kevin Bartlett with friends.
Penrose said the public’s interest faded in the 1980s, but in the early 1990s, the popularity of NBA stars like Michael Jordan revived the yen for sports cards.
Precious piece: Shane Penrose’s favourite card is a 1909 image of Collingwood great Jock McHale. Credit: Penny Stephens
In 1993, the Select brand started selling pre-signed AFL cards, and the hobby has grown since, says Penrose.
Penrose’s oldest and favourite card, from 1909, is a cigarette card, signed on the back, depicting Collingwood player, and later coach, Jock McHale.
Penrose says it could be worth thousands of dollars, but he would not sell it.
Among cards Penrose covets is the draft-pick card of Collingwood star Nick Daicos. There were 40 made and the one with Daicos’ guernsey number, 35, could fetch up to $12,000. “Even more if he wins the Brownlow,” Penrose said.
One “curiosity” player in his collection is Peter Bennett, who did pre-season training with the Adelaide Crows in 1991, and had a card issued, but never played a game.
Penrose says people could buy cards on the internet, but Sunday’s expo allowed them to meet people and check the condition of cards.
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I’ve got that Peter Bennett card somewhere. I believe he was actually drafted by Essendon originally but did not play a senior game for us.