Zach Merrett was best afield for Essendon in their close win over lowly North Melbourne, a tireless worker who often seems like he is the only A-grader on the Bomber list. The team has had to do without Darcy Parish due to injury this season, and with Dylan Shiel tried in defence but returning to mids in recent weeks the backup to the Zach attack has been filled with journeymen, kids and also-rans. One wonders if he can carry this sort of load all season, or whether his broad shoulders will eventually wilt under the insane workload he wills himself into completing.
Zach Merrett was best afield for Essendon in their close win over lowly North Melbourne, a tireless worker who often seems like he is the only A-grader on the Bomber list. The team has had to do without Darcy Parish due to injury this season, and with Dylan Shiel tried in defence but returning to mids in recent weeks the backup to the Zach attack has been filled with journeymen, kids and also-rans. One wonders if he can carry this sort of load all season, or whether his broad shoulders will eventually wilt under the insane workload he wills himself into completing.
Zach Merrett is the obvious favourite to be top fantasy scorer in this game, with Darcy Parish out with injury and the Hawks midfield notorious for giving up bulk leather to the opposition. The big problem for fantasy coaches is if Sam Mitchell decides to put a man on him, especially if that man is Finn Maginness who terrorised a lot of gun mids last year. Maginness had a terrible preseason and doesn't have much to his game other than tagging, so the decision Mitchell has to make is whether it's worth sacrificing just to stop one man. Merrett owners watch anxiously.
Merrett can't do much more
On the face of it, 2019 for Zach Merrett was pretty much exactly the same as the previous year, save for the round 1 concussion that had derailed him early in 2018. A couple of exotic stats tell the story, though: he lifted his league ranking in inside 50s and metres gained by 50 to add enough hurt factor to join the ranks of the elite midfielders. His starting position was as often on a wing or a flank to avoid tags, and they largely didn't come. It is unhealthy how much better Merrett is than his fellow Don midfielders, even his captain. Essendon evolved a game plan under John Worsfold based on generating scores from behind centre, which is not how things are done at successful clubs in the modern era where frontal pressure is more sustainable. New coach Ben Rutten will no doubt have new ideas on how to use Zerrett, and he is likely to continue to produce early round value.
Zach Merrett has made his way in a fair few salary cap squads post the byes, despite a demonstrated weakness against taggers and a short term schedule filled with teams that use them. Last week Mark Hutchings went to Adam Saad instead, and this week he doesn't have to face Matthew de Boer who is injured. His owners are going to enjoy the ride while it happens, but there's always the prospect of some lesser opponent sitting on him all game to produce a terrible score. Then again he's capable of some massive ones when he turns up.
Zach Merrett has had a dramatic first month of the season, omitted for round 1, the subject of a fan campaign for his reinstatement and then picked for round 3 where he didn't do much different to his career averages. He is one of a cadre of young Bombers whose job security seems to fluctuate from week to week as he has never quite put his stamp on a spot in the best 22 at Tullamarine. If the Bombers are to become a good side they need more from the likes of Parish, and at this point only homer fans will pick him up in fantasy competitions.
Merit in tagging Zerrett
The knock on Zach Merrett prior to last season was susceptibility to being tagged, but a savage bump to the head by Richard Douglas was the major problem in round 1. He did not miss any games, though his next fortnight was ordinary, and was back to full steam by round 4. He was tagged down below 20 touches twice more before the bye but only copped the tag twice after it, lifting his fantasy output by 23 points to just a tick under the mark set in the two previous years. This publication was tough on Merrett last year due to the tag issue, and subsequent events may or may not have justified that judgement depending on how long you think the effects of the concussion lingered. Regardless, he is the Bombers' only truly elite midfielder, in an engine room populated with a lot of support players. As such, if the Dons look like threatening finals he will again get more individual attention. Nevertheless, he is due a bit of a bounce back season and should be picked early.
Meritorious Merrett
The return of the first-choice Essendon midfield last season didn't stop Zach Merrett posting almost exactly the same numbers as his breakout 2016, hitting the top five for both fantasy points and metres gained. He copped a half a dozen tags later in the year, which dropped his disposal count from the usual 30 back to 25 or less in those games. His kick-to-handball ratio improved from 16:14 to 18:13, though that trend was more noticeable before the tags descended. The fact that Merrett's scores dropped 20 points after the bye speaks to increased attention on him, and it means that he has a little bit of downside going into 2018. On the flip side, he has a full off season to build his body up, and perhaps more importantly to get some instructions on how to beat a tag. Someone in your league will draft him in the first round, though the risk-averse will take note of the (arguable) red flags and leave him to others.
