Zach Merrett steps down as captain of Essendon after failed Hawthorn trade request
When Zach Merrett returned to Essendon after his failed trade request, he got a vibe of his standing at the club. While everyone welcomed him back, one thing became clear — he couldn’t be skipper.
Zach Merrett knew the collateral damage from his bold attempt to get to Hawthorn would most likely be the Essendon captaincy.
When he returned early to pre-season training a fortnight ago and faced his teammates - some of whom had been vocal about their disappointment in his bid to leave - and the Bombers hierarchy, it was almost like a temperature check.
He wanted to get the vibe, get a sense of what the events of the previous two months had done to his standing at the club.
Everyone welcomed him back with open arms which had buoyed the six-time best and fairest winner but after sitting down with new president Andrew Welsh, CEO Craig Vozzo and coach Brad Scott over recent days one thing became clearer.
Over a Tuesday coffee Merrett told Scott he was standing down as captain.
At 8am on Wednesday morning Merrett told his teammates that he was no longer their captain.
An hour later the club released a statement revealing their 41st captain was relinquishing the position.
“Growing up, it was a childhood dream of mine running around the backyard in Cobden, and it has been an opportunity that my family and I are very proud of,” Merrett said.
“If you told younger me I would get to captain this club for three years, I would have pinched myself. It’s been something I’ve really enjoyed and loved doing. I’ve really enjoyed being captain to lead so many great current and past players.
“It’s been weighing on my mind around who is the best person to lead this club and group moving forward, and I feel like I’ve come to the decision that I’m not the right person. There’s so much optimism, excitement and energy at the club, internally and externally, with the fans, changes with the high-performance team, our new draftees, top-end talent.
“It feels like so much excitement and optimism and newness, and being such a young group, it is a great chance for a young leader to come in and grow with all the group moving forward.”
The decision has been lauded as “selfless” by some, given Merrett could have sat back and let the team go through a process of having a vote which would have added further stress to the situation.
Instead he has got the elephant out of the room and for now at least put a full-stop on the whole saga (until next October).
Scott has been ultra-positive with Merrett since the Hawks deal fell over, saying repeatedly he just wanted the 30-year-old to be the best player he could be.
There was a sense the burden of captaincy had started to wear him down as the Bombers season lurched from bad to worse and this point was discussed at length between the pair in recent days.
Getting a new leader- which will most likely be defender Andy McGrath - to guide the next generation of Bombers made sense and was in line with new president Welsh’s mantra.
Since he took over in September, Welsh has been determined to reinvigorate the club he played for and bury the past horrors.
From day one he was adamant Merrett wouldn’t be traded and has developed a close relationship with his superstar midfielder which no doubt played a role in what has been a seamless return to the fold.
“Zach and I have had many long discussions recently and he is absolutely all-in on our vision and can clearly see the direction we’re heading,” Welsh said.
“He knows what we are building, and this decision supports that long-term goal with a focus on allowing the next wave of leaders to take control of this club.
“While he steps away from the captaincy, his influence on this playing group will not diminish.
“He remains a critical leader for us, and we know he will be integral to leading the next phase of our journey on-field.”
Scott described the out-going captain as “incredible” and said he’d never seen anyone like him.
“He is as hungry for success as any player that I’ve ever encountered and he’s a man who wants this club to achieve the ultimate success,” the Bombers coach said.
“Leadership is about the thankless stuff that hardly anyone ever sees. It’s not about giving motivational speeches, getting up and doing the stuff in flashy lights.
“It’s the stuff behind the scenes that go unnoticed, that is difficult, and it can be quite relentless. That has been Zach over the past few seasons.
“We fully respect his decision to focus his energy on being the elite on-field leader we know he is.”
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Originally published as Zach Merrett steps down as captain of Essendon after failed Hawthorn trade request
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