DANIEL Merrett is likely to have the rare luxury of past experience to call upon when the Brisbane Lions take on Sydney at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Merrett’s own inexperience – 43 career games, of which only half have been played in defence – means he often prepares for match-ups he hasn’t previously tackled.
This week, provided star Swans spearhead Barry Hall gets over groin problems, Merrett will do battle against an opponent he knows relatively well.
The emerging 22-year-old has stood Hall twice, including an excellent effort in round 21 of last year, when he kept the Sydney co-captain to two goals in a 57-point loss.
“During the week I find out who my match-up is and then try to look at their video tapes, plus the video of last time I played on them,” Merrett explained.
“But that’s actually been a bit difficult because this has been my first full year in defence and for a lot of the guys, it’s been the first time I’ve played on them.
“Obviously I’ve played on Hall a couple of times and he’s a lot more of a physical player than someone like (last week’s opponent) Lance Franklin.”
One player Merrett is thankful he doesn’t have to square off against come game-day is his teammate Jonathan Brown.
However, he’s grateful for the opportunity to test his defensive skills against the Coleman Medal favourite on the training track.
Merrett’s well-timed spoils and ability to stay with opponents in marking contests have been a feature of the Lions’ play all season, particularly during the five-game winning streak between round 14 and round 18.
“I’m really glad I don’t have to play (Brown) against him in matches – he’s an unbelievable player,” Merrett said.
“But at the same time, I’m very lucky he’s at my club because it means I get to train against the best forward going around.
“As a defender at training you do a fair bit of one-on-one, contest stuff against the forwards, which really helps with your timing.
“The forwards work on their marking and we work on our spoiling and punching the ball away.”
Leigh Matthews went to great lengths earlier in the week to hose down talk of finals qualification, saying the Lions needed to keep their minds on tasks closer to hand for September action to remain a possibility.
Merrett, at the heart of a youthful back six that is letting in only 83 points per game (down from 101 last year), understands where his coach is coming from.
“It’s difficult not to think about finals when you are a chance to make it – but you have to put it out of your mind,” he said.
“In the middle of the year we were playing some pretty stagnant footy, but we managed to turn it around and I think everyone is enjoying being out there at the moment.
“The main thing for us is that we finish the year strongly.
“The last couple of years we had lots of injuries and we dropped off badly in the last few games.”
This year we’re sort of rolling towards the end of the year and we’ve got the chance to finish off well.”
