Essendon football boss Dan Richardson has explained the club's decision to leave out Zach Merrett from their 2020 leadership group.
Merrett - who captained the Bombers on six occasions in 2020 in the absence of Dyson Heppell - was left out of the Dons five-man group that was announced on Tuesday.
Richardson said he is hopeful that the exclusion will give Merrett a chance to become a better leader within the side.
โWe feel really comfortable with the leadership group as it stands right now and Iโm sure Zach will come back bigger and better and will use this as an opportunity to continue growing his leadership and the way he goes about it,โ Richardson told SEN Breakfast.
โWe asked players for feedback around some on and off-field roles and around their leadership and I think an important point to make is Zach still rated well, he just didnโt rate as highly as the other five in the group.
โI donโt think the fact that heโs not in the official leadership group, people shouldnโt make the assumption that heโs a poor leader or not leading at all, he is, and Iโm sure he will continue to do.
โAlong with other strong leaders like Joe Daniher and similar to what the situation was with Michael Hurley last year.โ
โThe process was a little bit different to previous years, I wouldnโt necessarily suggest it was harsher, but the fact that it is a different process means you may end up with a different outcome.โ
Richardson also revealed that star forward Orazio Fantasia opted to be left out of the leadership group.
โItโs true that (Orazio) received really strong support to be in the leadership group,โ he said.
โI think all along with discussions with โRaz he was really focused on getting his body right and feeling that his best contribution to the team will be to get out there playing a bit more regularly and getting back to his best where he hasnโt quite been in the last couple of years.
โI think itโs a selfless decision that he thought it was the best thing for the team.โ
