Mark Robinson: Zach Merrett the uncompromising captain Essendon needed

Zach Merrett is going to captain a lot different to his predecessor Dyson Heppell. And Mark Robinson expects him to have shades of an Indian cricket superstar.

Zach Merrett of the Bombers. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

You want to know how Zach Merrett will captain?

Think Virat Kohli or Kobe Bryant, or closer to home, Brendon Goddard.

Attitude. Obsessive. Slight unhinged. Confronting teammates.

So different to his predecessor Dyson Heppell.

Heppell could tell it straight, but was an “arm around’’ sort of skipper.

Merrett will also have one arm around his teammate, but with the other, he will pound the chest demanding excellence.

He will get it wrong sometimes, probably go too hard on the slightest of let-downs, but he will get it right often.

Essendon fans should be welcoming of the Merrett announcement.

The Bombers have been a soft club, vanilla, and in Merrett they have a fighter, a prick if you like.

The Bombers need it.

Coach Brad Scott has his fingerprints all over the appointment.

He sees in Merrett a bit of himself, although even he would admit Merrett beats him as a footballer.

It’s perhaps old-school thinking, but the alignment of coach and captain is crucial to attitude and environment.

Brad Scott likely sees some of himself in new Essendon captain Zach Merrett. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Scott saw in Merrett what previous coaches did not.

Merrett was previously booted from the leadership group – and contemplated leaving – because some at the club could not handle his forthrightness.

He was 24 then. Determined and impatient for success and stability, he likely rubbed people up the wrong way.

He’s now 27. Whatever immaturities identified in him as a young leader have been replaced by a wholly recognised acceptance that Merrett is exactly who the Bombers need to lead the club.

He’s less inward. He’s talking to more teammates. He’s tried to make them feel more comfortable with the uncomfortableness he brings.

Scott’s a veteran coach. He knows the play. He played on the edge for the Lions, and at times crossed the edge as a coach. Merrett is less volatile than his coach, but has an edgy mentality.

Last year, when the Bombers were spiralling, Merrett was one of the players who went to coach Ben Rutten and said the game plan had to change.

Merrett was lost. It appeared in some games the whole team was lost.

Zach Merrett sets the standard on the training track. Picture: Michael Klein

Never shy, Merrett had a small whack at Rutten last week. “I think the way that probably ‘Truck’ (Rutten) and the coaches wanted us to play the last three years had been very role-based and very prescribed,” he said.

In essence, too many roles and not enough instinct.

Fans will scream “finally’’, but Merrett says emphasis has been placed on better defence, and he’s tried to lead that way.

“My attitude and mindset was very much around being the best defensive player at the club from day one (pre-season) and I’ve driven that extremely hard, but also did it myself without sort of talking about it, just sort of went about actions more than talking,” he said.

We will know soon enough if it’s more hot air from the Bombers.

Always, the announcement of a new captain at a footy club is the ceremonial dawn of something potentially significant.

Ultimately, it is performance which the team will be judged on.

But in Merrett, the Bombers get an open book. A bit of killer Kohli and relentless Kobe and maybe even a displacement of a bowl of pretzels, a la BJ.

God knows, the Bombers needed it.

Originally published as Mark Robinson: Zach Merrett the uncompromising captain Essendon needed