Where is this from?
He actually hasn’t been as good as last year. There’s plenty of scope for improvement for Zach.
Nah, we just noticed him more last year because he had literally no midfield support for the majority.
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Brownlow Tracker: Round 9 — Essendon’s Zach Merrett establishes himself as a genuine contender
May 23, 2017 7:33am
BROWNLOW TRACKER
Source: FOX SPORTS
Every week we will look at who polled what across the major Brownlow form guides and keep track of who’s on course to take home Charlie.
ESSENDON youngster Zach Merrett continues to prove a well-backed Brownlow fancy following another strong performance against West Coast on the weekend.
Merrett had 37 disposals as the Bombers secured a comfortable 61-point win over the Eagles, with the 21-year-old continuing to establish himself as one of the best on-ballers in the league.
Now averaging just under 33 touches a game, Merrett ranks 11th in the competition for Champion Data ranking points — averaging 111.7 per match.
It has seen the Bombers youngster move to the top of Player of the Year voting with The Herald Sun and with SEN, while he edges closer to the lead with The Age and Triple M.
Merrett has also firmed to just $17 with Crownbet, with only four players — Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane, Dustin Martin and Marcus Bontempelli — more heavily backed.
Dangerfield returned to favouritism for the Brownlow after a dominant display against the Bulldogs where he won 36 disposals, had 12 tackles, 10 clearances and kicked four goals.
Giants midfielder Josh Kelly and Melbourne youngster Clayton Oliver continue to be well backed for the Brownlow and are the best young options to win the award.
HERALD SUN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dustin Martin (Richmond) — 14
Zach Merrett (Essendon) — 14
Rory Sloane (Adelaide) — 12
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) — 11
Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs) — 10
Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn) — 10
Josh Kelly (GWS Giants) — 9
Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) — 9
THE AGE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rory Sloane (Adelaide) — 47
Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) — 46
Zach Merrett (Essendon) — 40
Jeremy Cameron (GWS Giants) — 40
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) — 39
Josh Kelly (GWS Giants) — 39
Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn) — 39
Brad Ebert (Port Adelaide) — 39
Seb Ross (St Kilda) — 39
TRIPLE M PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rory Sloane (Adelaide) — 15
Zach Merrett (Essendon) — 11
Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) — 11
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) — 10
Dustin Martin (Richmond) — 10
SEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) — 11
Zach Merrett (Essendon) — 11
Dustin Martin (Richmond) — 10
Joel Selwood (Geelong) — 10
Rory Sloane (Adelaide) — 10
Ben Cunnington (North Melbourne) — 9
Gary Ablett (Gold Coast) — 9
Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide) — 9
Seb Ross (St Kilda) — 9
CROWNBET MARKET
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong) — $4.25
Rory Sloane (Adelaide) — $5.50
Dustin Martin (Richmond) — $7.50
Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs) — $9
Zach Merrett (Essendon) — $17
Gary Ablett (Gold Coast) — $17
Joel Selwood (Geelong) — $21
Josh Kelly (GWS Giants) — $23
Clayton Oliver (Melbourne) — $23
Nat Fyfe (Fremantle) — $26
Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide) — $29
I don’t particularly rate Rohan. More toe than a Roman sandal and had some bad injuries, but he strikes me as not being really game-aware.
Has two Leon Davis-like GF performances against his name too.
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Really disappointed with his goal kicking ability. It is not his strong suit.
To be ‘top shelf’ he has to kick goals when he has the opportunity. Saturday night was poor in that respect.
He is so good in other areas, but not in putting them through the big sticks.
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I think he had 8-0 or 9-0 before missing a couple of gettable shots in that North final that never happened.
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didn’t think we’d played a final in the last 10 years.
I said facetiously yesterday that our goalkicking cost us…we missed 3 or 4 sitters and at least 3 were OOBF.
Zach’s was pretty straightforward and Walla missed one that was easier to kick than to miss.
You’d have to hope that his current goal-kicking form improves. His field kicking is excellent – he’s one of those player who makes you breathe a sigh of relief when he gets it because you can be pretty sure that the next player to get the ball will be on our side. But the reliable kicking deserts him when he’s shooting for goal – for one reason or another, he usually seems to find a way to miss.
He’s still only young, and as you pointed out above, he used to be a very accurate shooter. I’d back him to get the accuracy back in the not too distant future.
The bigger issue is the mis-use of Zerrett - Has played too much as a defensive midfielder and as an extra sweeping across the half back line - He needs to gain more possessions in the forward half.
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We need him helping there at the moment as he most likely to be able to hit the targets through middle of ground which sets up all our attacking plays.
Nah - We could rotate Goddard back more which has happened in the last two weeks - The team is not receiving full value from Merrett’s talents.
I remember his first miss was in a Richmond game when the match was on the line and we needed a goal. I turned to my old man and said “put down your glasses - this is our best kick, he hasn’t even missed yet!”
…
Spot on. Is being used often as a distributor off half back - you can see why the club are keen on recruiting attacking half-backs. Would also like to see Zerrett forward of centre more often - either delivering the final entry or kicking a few himself.
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Was everywhere again and bulletted a pass to the skipper deep into the 4th in front. Difficult mark. You just knew he did it to get the spirits up. This bloke is fantastic. He’s a brainy player. Clever and hard at it. Apples and Oranges but Jeez he reminds me of Bomber Thompson. I reckon he’ll be a captain one day too. Too smart not to be.
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Kid is a freak. Love him.
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Dear Football gods.
We continue to give thanks.
Regards,
Blitz.
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Gave him 3 votes this week, not just for this week but for the last few.
I don’t think I’ve given him a vote in the last few games despite the fact that he gets more of the ball than anyone else on the team.
Kind of taking him for granted.
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