Essendon received a major boost on Thursday when Zach Merrett put pen to paper on a bumper six-year contract extension.
Merrett’s future had been up in the air since the end of last season with the star midfielder and restricted free agent attracting interest from multiple clubs.
So what changed at the Bombers following the conclusion of the 2020 season that swayed the 25-year-old to recommit to the club on a long-term deal?
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“Looking back over the past seven or eight years from the start of my career, there hasn’t been a lot of change and wasn’t a great deal of alignment and trust throughout the organisation,” Merrett told SEN Breakfast.
“It wasn’t so much just 12 weeks of footy, but from day 1 of pre-season, 'Truck' (Ben Rutten) has brought in a great deal of change in the organisation as a whole and more importantly allowed us as players to hone in on our footy.
“The majority of the time we’re giving really consistent effort and hopefully fans and people are seeing that change now.”
Essendon has shown significant improvement since Rutten took the reins as the sole senior coach with Merrett’s signature a huge show of faith in where the club is heading.
“There’s a real sense of clarity with everyone, both players and staff as well, for what their role is and what’s required of them,” Merrett said.
“Secondly, there’s a real sense of buy-in and alignment across the place. I think guys are really enjoying getting to work and celebrating each other along the journey as well.
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“It’s reflecting on game day, but there’s a lot of work that’s being put in (behind the scenes).
“Josh (Mahoney), Xavier (Campbell), Ben (Rutten) along with Adrian (Dodoro) have created a great sense of alignment, but as players, Dyson (Heppell), Andy (McGrath), ‘Hurls’ (Michael Hurley) … a number of players are taking a great deal of ownership as well.
“We’ve seen some younger players more importantly flourish like (Darcy) Parish, (Kyle) Langford and (Jayden) Laverde down back, which has taken a load off the shoulders of Dyson and a few others.”
Merrett, a two-time best and fairest winner and one-time All-Australian, has played 154 of a possible 164 games since debuting in 2014.