Essendon Captain Zach Merrett has capped off a stellar individual year to collect his third All Australian honour.
After selections in 2017 and ’21, Merrett was awarded a place on the 2023 All Australian team’s interchange, being the Bombers’ sole selection.
In his first year as skipper, the 27-year-old was a standout across his 22 games, averaging 28 disposals, along with five inside 50s, tackles and clearances per game.
Despite drawing the attention of opposition negaters most weeks, Merrett was able to rise above and finish seventh in the AFL for total effective disposals (470) and ninth for total disposals (634).
Merrett gathered 30-plus disposals nine times throughout the year.
Accumulation wasn’t the only feature of Merrett’s game, with the midfielder backing up his work around the ball with strong offence and defence, placing 13th in the AFL for total inside 50s (112), 17th for total score involvements (146) and 16th for total tackles (121).
Merrett was one of three Essendon players to earn an initial selection in the 40-man All Australian squad alongside forward Kyle Langford and defender Mason Redman.
This season’s All Australian award is another impressive addition to Merrett’s growing career honours which includes three Crichton Medals (two-time runner up), three 22under22 team selections and currently being seventh on Essendon’s all-time Brownlow Medal leaderboard.
More to come.
