Gone are the days when he was first drafted to the Club and people would presume that he was in some way related to former Bears Captain Roger Merrett.
Roger Merrett is arguably the greatest player to have ever represented the Brisbane Bears and his name became synonymous with football in Queensland during a period when AFL was still a relatively foreign code in the Northern States.
It therefore came as no surprise that Daniel Merrett immediately inherited the nickname ‘Rog’ when he was first drafted to the Lions from Southport with Pick No.30 in the 2002 AFL National Draft.
For the record, he had no direct link with Roger Merrett and played Rugby League and volleyball for the majority of his junior years. It wasn’t until he was asked to fill in for his mates’ Aussie Rules team that he developed a love for the sport.
Merrett quickly adapted to the new code and later represented Queensland in the 2002 AFL U18 Championships. Since arriving at the Lions, he has established himself as the team’s ‘rock’ in defence and even became an official part of the Club's Leadership Group in 2009. He has also been named in the Queensland Team of the Year in each of the past three seasons.
Now after eight AFL seasons, the former Gold Coast recruit no longer stands in the shadows of his famous namesake.
He will run out for his 100th AFL match this Saturday night against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco which will earn him the additional honour of having his name etched into the number 21 locker at the Gabba.
“It’s taken me almost eight years to get here, but it’s a nice achievement,” Merrett said on Wednesday ahead his milestone match.
“I guess now I’ll get my name put up on my locker, which will be pretty good to see.”
“I remember walking in and seeing Roger Merrett’s name up on the number 24 locker when I first arrived at the Club and thinking how great it would be to have another Merrett up there,” he said.
Merrett will become just the third player in Club history - behind Fitzroy's Wilfred 'Chicken' Smallhorn and Alan Thompson - to wear the number 21 guernsey in 100 senior Club matches. Mark Zanotti also appears on Merrett’s locker door having played 64 matches in the number 21 guernsey with the Bears and 57 matches in the number 16 guernsey with Fitzroy.
While the Lions full-back is looking forward to the milestone, his - and the team’s - focus still rests solely on defeating the Eagles this weekend and arresting an eight-game losing streak.
“We’re really looking forward to the trip over to Perth,” Merrett said.
“We’ll get over there a bit earlier than usual and spend a bit of time together.”
“We’re working towards our next win. We might not be getting the points at the moment, but we're definitely improving. The boys really want to finish the season strongly.”
