WHO’S FLYING

Each week throughout the 2023 season we will present Who’s Flying, a series of stories which will encapsulate everything that is good about our great game. It could be a star player, a coach who has inspired his men or a team that is – pardon the pun – flying. BRENDAN

Rhodes

analyses Zach Merrett’s superb game for Essendon last week.

Apass mark in a school test earns a student a merit certificate and a top shelf result is worth a High Distinction.

While Essendon captain Zach Merrett (or Merit?) earns that pass mark simply by his name, let alone his usually strong performances, he was clearly in the top one per cent of the class in the Dreamtime at the ’G exam last Saturday night as the Bombers broke a 13-match losing streak against Richmond.

Merrett was simply unstoppable, winning the ball in close and in space, linking up beautifully around the ground and setting up countless forward thrusts on his way to being unanimously selected for Dreamtime’s version of the High Distinction, the Yiooken Award for best on ground.

He stuffed the stats sheet with 39 disposals (12 contested) and took eight marks, won five clearances and six intercept possessions, delivered six inside-50s and had nine score involvements to rack up a game-high 679m gained.

While Sam Durham rightfully stole some of the plaudits for his contested mark and match-winning goal with just seconds to go to steal the win in a game the Bombers trailed for most of the night, it was Merrett who got the job done, with support from defenders Jordan Ridley and Mason Redman, while Jye Caldwell and Andrew McGrath had easily their best games of the season.

The table on this page shows Merrett hasn’t always been judged to have the greatest impact when he racks up big numbers, but this time he polled a perfect 12 votes in the Yiooken Award and a perfect 10 AFL Coaches Association votes.

To put it into context, he was averaging 27.3 disposals and 3.5 marks before last Saturday, showing just how much he lifts on the big stage (his next best game was 35 touches against Melbourne in Gather Round) and proving just how much the Bombers missed him when he was suspended against Collingwood on Anzac Day. It was his best game since he had 39 disposals against Geelong in round one last year, and he has only twice gone better in his 193-match career – 41-possession efforts against Melbourne in 2021 and Hawthorn in 2018.

ZACH MERRETT’S 10 BEST GAMES DISPOSALS

Footy Fun Facts

The first scheduled international passenger flight departed London and landed in Paris in 1919. That was the year Collingwood won its fifth premiership.