In the end, both parties navigated a respectful middle line.
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After meetings over recent days with president Andrew Welsh, coach Brad Scott, and senior players, Merrett decided he was now not the best person to captain the club.
He did not say it was a reaction to his attempt to defect to Hawthorn, but rather that with so much change at the club with top-end draftees, a new president and high-performance head, it was also right for a change of on-field leadership.
“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,” Merrett said in a club statement on Wednesday morning.
“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, [and] 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.”
Whether he was biding his time until all the players returned to training to make his captaincy decision public, or it was only after further meetings with the senior club and team leaders that he reached the decision, is unclear.
Brad Scott (left) and Merrett share a laugh at the star onballer’s first day back at pre-season training since his failed trade request.Credit: Essendon FC
“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,” president, and former vice captain of the club, Welsh said.
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“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.”
Andy McGrath is favoured to be the next captain, though a leadership process will be run. McGrath was one of two players – Mason Redman was the other – to publicly express disappointment and some anger towards Merrett during the trade period for his push to be traded to Hawthorn while contracted.
Merrett said in The Age interview that he understood and respected their criticism of his decision and he felt they were speaking out to publicly back Scott and the administration.
Merrett remains a friend of McGrath’s. He did not attend McGrath’s off-season wedding, which prompted speculation of a snub or falling out, but Merrett explained he was already committed to attend the wedding of ex-teammate Marty Gleeson in Queensland that weekend.
Merrett has won six Essendon best-and-fairest awards in his 251 games for the club, and the sixth of those Crichton Medal awards uncomfortably came in the middle of his push to leave.
Scott has not publicly or privately criticised three-time All-Australian Merrett for his attempt to leave the club, recognising it fitted with his rare personality type that is unsparing in his drive for success.
“Zach has done an exceptional job over the last three years, leading the club through some good times and difficult times,” Scott said.
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“Zach is an incredible player and in my time in coaching, I’ve rarely 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.
“Leadership is about the thankless stuff that hardly anyone ever sees. It’s not all 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. No one embodies our culture on field more than Zach, and we know he’ll deliver in 2026 and beyond.”
It is unstated, but implicit, in Essendon’s media release and Merrett’s comments, that he will also not seek to be part of the formal leadership group.
The announcement ends a contentious year for the Bombers, who were terrible on the field, enduring the worst injury run in recent history. They changed president and parted with their fitness boss. They then had the captain attempt to leave, only for the club to refuse to yield.
They brought a favourite son, and respected former assistant coach, in Dean Solomon off the board and into the assistant coaching ranks for next year, with former Bomber and premiership Swan Ted Richards replacing him on the board.
The Bombers capped the year by drafting in three elite junior talents to fill glaring areas of need in a playing list short of top-end talent.
Merrett can see the change in the club and was enthusiastic in particular of the influx of new top-end talent he had long-craved to support him. Whether that expedites the time frame for Essendon’s success to coincide with the autumn years of Merrett’s career remains to be seen.
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