'Across the board': Worsfold throws more Dons under the bus

John Worsfold has defended star midfielder Zach Merrett – by pointing the finger at his captain Dyson Heppell and a number of other struggling Bombers.

Merrett came under fire from club legend Tim Watson on Monday night following subpar efforts in the first quarter of Essendon’s defeat to GWS.

Few Essendon players fired a shot in the loss, including Dylan Shiel against his old club, but vision of Merrett’s pressure drove Watson mad.

With three minutes left in the first term, the No.7 hovered around a fight for the ball and only stuck a left arm out in an attempt to stop a handball.

“It’s almost as if he’s given up. This is as bad as it can possibly be,” Watson said on Channel 7’s Talking Footy.

“Look at the effort there, the token effort just to put up a hand. This is tough on Zach Merrett, he’s a youngish type player – that is not AFL standard.

“There is not a coach in the competition that would accept that as effort.”

Merrett, who missed a month of pre-season with an ankle injury, recorded just 16 disposals, with only five contested possessions and three tackles.

But the 23-year-old was not alone, leaving the coach to fend for the embattled midfielder by throwing other players under the bus.

“Zach had a poor game, I think. He didn’t really impact in anywhere near the level that we know he can,” Worsfold said.

“In fairness to Zach, I think if you extended out any period of play you would see several other players also not playing with the intensity that we needed to play at. That was across the board.

“Whether it’s Zach, as our vice-captain, Dyson (Heppell), or our younger players, there’s plenty of examples there across the board where we didn’t put the effort in that’s required at this level.”

Heppell had already delivered an impassioned response to the loss, saying they “can’t just sweep that under the rug”.

The skipper picked up an equal team-high 25 touches but had just six contested possessions and four tackles.

Worsfold said Essendon’s pre-season efforts had pointed towards early struggles, and it was up to the players to get themselves out of the mire.

“Some might thrive on it and might like a kick in the backside to get up and going and prove people wrong, and others might go into their shell,” he said.

“We educate them around being able to prepare best and perform at their best. They should know what that is.

“Most of the time they’re grown men – they didn’t really show that the other day – they are able to make those decisions for themselves.”

The Bombers sit on the bottom of the ladder after round one following the 72-point belting.