Roger Merrett (born 19 April 1960) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played in two

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

premiership sides with the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

in the mid-1980s before moving to the fledgling

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

, later captaining the new club for seven seasons. He ended his career as the games record holder for the Brisbane Bears, in addition to being the last VFL/AFL player from the 1970s to retire from professional football.

Playing career

Essendon

Merrett was a strong competitor for the

during the first part of his playing career from 1978 to 1987. For Essendon, he played 149 games and kicked a total of 148 goals. Merrett was also a member of

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

's premiership teams in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Brisbane Bears

He moved to the

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

as captain. Merrett became a strong and inspirational captain of the Bears, at first alternating in the ruck with Mark Mickan. After John Hutton's inconsistent form at full-forward reached an end, Merrett's tired legs were moved permanently to the position where he was able to use his height and kicking abilities to spearhead the club as their leading goalkicker for many seasons before Alastair Lynch proved a suitable replacement. Merrett retired from his playing career at the end of the 1996 season. Merrett played a total of 164 games and kicked a total of 285 goals for Brisbane Bears from 1988 until 1996. He played on for many years, earning the nickname ''Roger the Dodger'' (with reference to his age) before his eventual retirement.

Coaching career

Brisbane Lions

Merrett held coaching ambitions for much of his career, and after his retirement from his playing career at the end of the 1996 season, he was immediately recruited by his senior coach

John Northey John Neville Northey (born 29 June 1943) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played from 1963 to 1970 with the Richmond Football Club. Northey was a dual premiership player with Richmond, winning flags in 1967 and 1969. H ...

to fill an assistant coaching role at the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

(formed on 1 November 1996 from a merger between the

and the

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of City of Fitzroy, Fitzroy, the club is base ...

). However, relations between the two men were cool, and half-way through the 1998 season, with the Lions at the bottom of the ladder, Northey was sacked as senior coach and Merrett was appointed caretaker senior coach of Brisbane Lions for the rest of the 1998 season. Merrett then led Brisbane Lions to three wins, one draw and seven losses of the remaining eleven games in the 1998 season to still finish in last place on the ladder, which was the sixteenth position for the

wooden spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

. At the end of the 1998 season, Merrett was however not retained as Brisbane Lions senior coach and was replaced by Australian football legend

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn Football Club, Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the ...

. Merrett has not been closely involved in football since, outside of occasional club functions at Brisbane and Essendon.

Life after football

Merrett now lives on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

, where he operates a post office. He also provides special comments for ABC Radio broadcasts of

home matches. The Brisbane Lions' award for their best-and-fairest player over a season, the

Merrett–Murray Medal The Merrett–Murray Medal has been awarded annually since 1997, to the player adjudged the Brisbane Lions club champion over the immediately preceding Australian Football League (AFL) season. It is named after Roger Merrett and Kevin Murray (Aus ...

, is partly named after him. For 2009 AFLQ season, Merrett was part-time assistant coach for AFLQ power house, Southport Sharks. On 18 January 2011, Merrett suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

, thought to be related to a hereditary heart condition. In 2016, he joined the Bond University Bullsharks in a volunteer capacity and to assist his son Ben who took on the reserves coaching job.

References

* 1977 Victorian under 17 - Australian premiers {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrett, Roger 1960 births Living people Brisbane Lions coaches Brisbane Bears players Essendon Football Club players Essendon Football Club premiership players All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian rules footballers from Queensland Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Victorian State of Origin players VFL/AFL premiership players