Young Essendon star Zach Merrett is excited by the foundations the Club is laying for future success. 

Merrett is one of a number of talented young Bombers players to emerge in recent seasons.

Vice-Captain Dyson Heppell headlines a batch of developing stars that also features 2015’s leading goal kicker Joe Daniher, Marty Gleeson, Orazio Fantasia, Jayden Laverde and Kyle Langford. 

The Bombers also added some blue chip stock at November’s National Draft as Adrian Dodoro and his recruiting team cashed in on the Dons best array of selections in recent memory.

“It’s obviously very exciting,” Merrett said.

“A lot of young guys and we’ve got 13 or 14 new blokes this year as well. 

“So it’s a great framework and we’ve got a lot of great things to build on.”

Merrett has raced to 37 games in just two years but a foot injury ended his 2015 campaign early.

“It has recovered really well,” he said.

“It obviously took the last five games away from me last year, but it’s back on track now. 

“I’ve been back to full training – obviously still monitoring it, but it’s going really well at the moment.” 

Merrett and his young teammates have an experienced coaching staff guiding them this season.

The coaching group has been involved in ten AFL premierships.

Mark Harvey, Mark Neeld and Guy McKenna have all coached in their own right while Hayden Skipworth and Matthew Egan have built up impressive coaching resumes in their time at Essendon.

John Worsfold is leading the coaching team and Merrett said he’s already had a significant impact. 

“He’s been fantastic,” he said.

“He’s brought his new perspective to the Club.

“I think he’s really working to get a whole club perspective on things and try to build on everything that has been put in place beforehand and hopefully build success obviously on-field, but off-field as well – so it’s exciting times.”