{"id":354518,"date":"2025-12-17T19:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/354518\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T19:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T19:28:13","slug":"bombers-unveil-new-skipper-merrett-out-of-leadership-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/354518\/","title":{"rendered":"Bombers unveil new skipper, Merrett out of leadership group"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__summary\">\n                Essendon has handed Andrew McGrath the top job after Zach Merrett stepped down\n            <\/p>\n<p>                                Zach Merrett and Andrew McGrath celebrate Essendon&#8217;s win over Collingwood in round 17, 2024. Picture: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>FORMER No.1 draft pick Andrew McGrath has been unveiled as Essendon&#8217;s new captain for 2026.<\/p>\n<p>McGrath replaces Zach Merrett in the role after the six-time Crichton Medal winner stepped down last month following his failed trade move to arch rival Hawthorn.<\/p>\n<p>McGrath, 27, will take the reins after serving as vice-captain since 2023.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The overwhelming approval from the playing group and coaching staff in naming Andy as our new captain tells the story in itself, really,&#8221; Bombers footy boss Daniel McPherson said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a well-deserved achievement and a fitting honour for someone who&#8217;s frequently set the example of exactly what an Essendon person should be.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re thrilled for Andy and we know he&#8217;ll handle the responsibility with the level of character and dedication we&#8217;ve grown accustomed to seeing from him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>                    Andrew McGrath looks on after the R2 match between Essendon and Adelaide at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 22, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n<p>The appointment comes on a day of change for Essendon, with CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/news\/1460640\/more-leadership-change-at-essendon-bombers-as-ceo-craig-vozzo-steps-down\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Craig Vozzo announcing he was resigning from the role<\/a> to spend more time with his family in South Australia.<\/p>\n<p>Merrett, who led the Bombers for the past three seasons, will not have an official leadership role after relinquishing the top job.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Zach was consistently outstanding in his service as captain and did himself proud. Although he won&#8217;t be in a formal role this season, he remains an integral person for our players to look up to and learn from,&#8221; McPherson said.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Langford, Mason Redman and Nic Martin remain in the club&#8217;s leadership group for 2026, while midfielders Sam Durham and Jye Caldwell have been added for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Former Gold Coast player Brayden Fiorini has also been elevated after an impressive pre-season with his new club.<\/p>\n<p>                    Brayden Fiorini during an Essendon training session at NEC Hangar on November 10, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is great for Kyle, Mase and Nic to continue in their leadership roles and it highlights their growth as leaders; they are a terrific voice for our players who command respect for good reason,&#8221; McPherson said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re also rapt to have Jye, Sam and Brayden to round out our leadership group this year. They&#8217;ll all play key roles for us both on-field and off \u2013 we feel really confident in the mix of experienced and newer faces we have on board there.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essendon has handed Andrew McGrath the top job after Zach Merrett stepped down Zach Merrett and Andrew McGrath&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-354518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}