Essendon leader Kyle Langford has revealed former skipper Zach Merrett has been called back into leadership meetings amid a disastrous start to the season.
Merrett officially stood down from his post following his failed move to Hawthorn last year, but remains a guiding figure without an official title.
"Zach was in our leadership group this morning," Langford said.
"He's right in amongst us. He's not shying away from anything. He knows he needs to improve as well in certain areas.
"He's not back in it but he's a leader in this group. He's been a captain of this football club. Leadership group, captaincy, vice-captaincy is just a title.
"We could put another half a dozen players through there, and we do, because it's part of their development.
"But Zach has so much experience, he's our eldest player. His insights would be lost if we didn't include him in these chats."
Langford also opened up on the players-only meeting following the Port Adelaide drubbing, which excused all coaches and staff, allowing the 23 players to "hit the nail on the head".
"We sat down, we had a fair bit of time at Adelaide Oval before our flight, and we just thought, get together, get our feelings spoken about," Langford added.
"As leaders, we spoke about how this is on us, the basic fundamentals of football... wasn't there on the day, and that's something that was in our control. So, (the chat) was all about us taking ownership of the performance and avoiding any sideways chat.
"Be able to hit the nail on the head straight away."
The Bombers' defensive woes has hit fever pitch, conceding an average of 139 points in the opening two weeks. They also ranked 16th for points against in 2025, surrendering a mean of 96 points each week.
But Langford said the messaging from coach Brad Scott said it's "pretty clear".
"It's us players being able to put what we're learning during the week into action, and I think that's where we're struggling."
Essendon will have the chance to right some wrongs on Saturday when they host North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
