Essendon interim coach Dean Solomon has batted away questions about whether he would like to put his hand up for the club's senior coach position.
Solomon's name has been bandied around in conversations for the top job next year, and he has a strong relationship with chief executive Andrew Walsh.
The Bombers are expected to start meeting with candidates in the coming weeks.
"I still haven't thought about it, my position hasn't changed in that space," Solomon told the media on Thursday.
"What I'm focused on is the role I'm in at the moment, the interim role. I've got to keep my eyes down in that space, but there's a lot of reports going on and a lot of conversation around myself, but right here, right now, I'm just focusing on what I need to focus on."
Asked if he plans to think about it, he said: "Not at this point in time, but as the weeks progress, we'll see where it lands."
He admitted that the length of the stint made it quite different to his short interim stint at Gold Coast.
While Essendon will start sifting through candidates, he is showing first-hand how he would approach the role, putting him in a different position.
"I've got my hands on the steering wheel at the moment, but it's off a short run, it's mid-season, there are lots of little things you'd change or look at, but I'm just focused on what I need to focus on right now," Solomon said.
"I've always enjoyed coaching, I've said that from Day 1. It's a big challenge, we're a big club, and we just want to make our fans proud again, which is why the next nine weeks are really important."
Solomon praised Merrett's openness with the media on Wednesday about how speculation had affected him and said he would not get involved in talks about his future.
He revealed some insight into his role on the weekend.
"We've got flexibility in the way we play. We just want to drive a bit more ball forward, a bit more time in forward half rather than time in possession team, so we're just shifting our ball movement stuff so we will stick with Zach at half-back at this point in time, but within game he has the flexibility to support our midfield," Solomon said.
Defender Archie Roberts, meanwhile, is much closer to a return than initially feared when he suffered his shoulder injury, given the decision not to opt for surgery.
"We discussed it - the medical staff are really confident he can be back in a couple of weeks time," Solomon said.
"They spoke with Archie as well, and he's really keen to push to play this year, so that has been the discussion so far. He's progressing really well, he's ahead of time, so we expect to see him in the next couple of weeks."
"Our ball movement will come off the back of our ball movement and team defence shape, and we want to get after the opposition a bit more; we want to apply more pressure," Solomon said.
The Bombers have improved some defensive aspects of their game since Solomon took over, and he is confident the club can do damage on the run home, offering an insight into the identity they want to forge.
"We feel like we've been inconsistent with that at times, and it's hard to shift that in season, but with a young group, I just want them to learn, really honestly, how to win one-on-ones - ground ball and aerial - how to shape a contest, how structure up and connect quickly in team defence.
"If we get that going at a consistent level, we will attack more front-half footy, we'll be quite potent. It won't be a dour game plan; we just need to tighten up a few things, it's important they learn that early."
