Daniel Merrett

Daniel Merrett (born 12 December 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Daniel Merrett
Merrett in March 2017
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Merrett
Nickname(s)	Sauce
Date of birth	(1984-12-12) 12 December 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Original team(s)	Southport (QAFL)
Draft	No. 30, 2002 national draft
Height	195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	103 kg (227 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current club	Brisbane Lions (women's forwards coach)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2003–2016	Brisbane Lions	200 (70)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2020	Brisbane (women's)	1 (0–0–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2016. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 3, 2020.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Merrett was born in Adelaide, but moved to the Gold Coast with his family at a young age. A talented schoolboy rugby league player for Benowa State High School,^[1] he was identified as a potential Australian rules footballer by AFL Queensland junior development scouts due to his imposing frame and ball-handling skills, and was groomed as a key forward with the Surfers Paradise Demons and later Southport Sharks. He was recruited by the Brisbane Lions with the number 30 draft pick in the 2002 AFL Draft but took several years to develop sufficiently to make his debut.

AFL career

Merrett made his AFL debut in Round 2, 2005 against Port Adelaide.

In August 2016, he announced he would retire from the AFL at the end of the season.^[2]

He has been an assistant coach of the Lions' AFL Women's team since the inaugural season in 2017, and coached a game against Gold Coast in round three of the 2020 season when regular head coach Craig Starcevich was hospitalised. The game ended in a draw.

Positions

Merrett in December 2008

Daniel Merrett used to play as a full forward, centre half forward or half forward flank in his early career but eventually regularly played as a fullback. He was the defender with the most spoils in the 2007 season.

Statistics

^[3]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2005	Brisbane Lions	21	15	13	9	48	43	91	40	19	0.9	0.6	3.2	2.9	6.1	2.7	1.3
2006	Brisbane Lions	21	9	3	3	28	31	59	25	18	0.3	0.3	3.1	3.4	6.6	2.8	2.0
2007	Brisbane Lions	21	22	0	0	110	90	200	89	27	0.0	0.0	5.0	4.1	9.1	4.0	1.2
2008	Brisbane Lions	21	22	0	0	101	102	203	83	28	0.0	0.0	4.6	4.6	9.2	3.8	1.3
2009	Brisbane Lions	21	19	1	0	100	115	215	82	26	0.1	0.0	5.3	6.1	11.3	4.3	1.4
2010	Brisbane Lions	21	16	0	0	93	84	177	78	40	0.0	0.0	5.8	5.3	11.1	4.9	2.5
2011	Brisbane Lions	21	10	0	0	88	57	145	54	22	0.0	0.0	8.8	5.7	14.5	5.4	2.2
2012	Brisbane Lions	21	22	26	13	191	100	291	113	63	1.2	0.6	8.7	4.5	13.2	5.1	2.9
2013	Brisbane Lions	21	17	14	8	131	78	209	84	28	0.8	0.5	7.7	4.6	12.3	4.9	1.6
2014	Brisbane Lions	21	19	12	8	105	78	183	71	24	0.6	0.4	5.5	4.1	9.6	3.7	1.3
2015	Brisbane Lions	21	10	0	0	69	42	111	52	9	0.0	0.0	6.9	4.2	11.1	5.2	0.9
2016	Brisbane Lions	21	19	1	0	96	76	172	57	32	0.1	0.0	5.1	4.0	9.1	3.0	1.7
Career			200	70	41	1160	896	2056	828	336	0.4	0.2	5.8	4.5	10.3	4.1	1.7