Daniel Merrett Biography

Daniel Merrett announces his retirement and will play in his last and 200th game next week against St Kilda.

"I probably sat down on the weekend and thought, 'What do I value in life the most?' And that’s my family," Merrett said.

"For the last five years it’s been bloody hard, copping 60, 70 inside 50s every week playing full-back on the best forwards, it’s bloody stressful.

“I just want to give more time to my family and it probably feels like a little bit of the fire has burnt out inside."

Daniel Merrett admits to not playing great football this season, but says he still has something to offer and wants to play on in 2017.

The 31-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season, and with the Lions featuring a backline devoid of experience, says he has a hunger to extend his 12-year career.

"No, I'm not having a great year, but I still feel like I can bring something to the group," Merrett said.

"I definitely want to play on next year.

"I think my young, developing backline, I get a lot of motivation from those guys, supporting them and mentoring them and I'd like to continue that on next year."

Dayne Beams and Daniel Merrett have been appointed vice-captains of the Brisbane Lions after the struggling club issued a virtual call to arms among its most experienced campaigners.

Ex-Magpie Beams, the joint club champion in his debut season with the Lions last year, and elder statesman Merrett join deputies Dayne Zorko, Pearce Hanley and Daniel Rich in an expanded leadership group under second-year captain Tom Rockliff.

Daniel Merrett's hamstring injury is worse than first thought, with no timeframe set on return for the Brisbane Lions fullback.

"Every week I hear it's another week or two, then it's another week or two and the same path has continued. It's not as obvious as most other injuries, this one," Brisbane coach Justin Leppitsch said.

"It's taking time unfortunately until that blood goes away.

"He's got a bit of a pinched nerve at the moment, that's the thing that's causing all the issues."

Daniel Merrett will miss Saturday's QClash against Gold Coast as his hamstring injury drags on longer than expected.

Daniel Merrett says feeling insecure about his position in the team has made him work harder this pre-season.

"On the back of having a bad year, being thrown around for trade, it gives you a bit of a kick and an edge," Merrett said.

"Feeling like I have an unsettled position in the team also gives you an edge.

"I'm in a way better headspace and a lot more determined than I was last year."

Initially shocked at seeing his name in off-season trade rumours, Daniel Merrett admits he contemplated leaving the Brisbane Lions after 12 seasons.

"I had a shocking year. That was probably my worst year ever," Merrett said.

"I thought I'd be here my whole career and then to see my name in the paper as being up for trade was a shock to the system.

"When I was on my break it got me thinking "do I need a freshen up and a change of scenery?"

Brisbane Lion Daniel Merrett and Greater Western Sydney's Sam Frost are right in Melbourne's sights as the Demons look to cover the expected loss of free agent James Frawley.

"The whole year we've looked at the situation, if James leaves the club we need to have someone to come in and play a key position role," football operations manager Josh Mahoney said.

"Daniel Merrett was one name that came up, Sam Frost was another name. There's a number of guys out there we've been talking to that can potentially fill that role."

Cam Pedersen has surgery after his nose was broken when he was hit in a marking contest involving Brisbane Lion Daniel Merrett at Etihad Stadium.

Pedersen was left bloodied after Merrett's spoiling attempt and needs further surgery at the end of the season to fix some internal damage in his nose.

Merrett's match-day striking report was thrown out after it was deemed he was making a legitimate attempt to spoil the ball and that the contact made was accidental.

Following the retirement of Jonathan Brown, Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch is confident Daniel Merrett can hold the fort in attack until the club's next big forward arrives.

"We're in a development phase of our club, we know that. We have to continue to keep putting hours and hours into our players to get them better," Leppitsch said.

"I think Daniel Merrett can hold the fort for a few years anyway, I think he does that pretty well as a bit of a monster. I don't think it's all dreary for our footy club in that position."

After being suspended in 2013 and giving away 25 free kicks in 17 games, Daniel Merrett admits that he must learn to keep his cool during games.

"It's probably old age, I think I'm getting grumpy," Merrett said.

"I definitely got frustrated during games. I got suspended last year (2013) and overstepped the line. I've got to keep a hold on that. I'm not playing my best footy when I'm frustrated and lose my way."

Daniel Merrett believes he will recover from a broken ankle in time for round one after surgery that included the insertion of a plate and 10 screws.

"It feels pretty good at the moment. It is a lot different," Merrett said.

"The treadmill's underneath you and there's not a lot of contract going through your feet.

"The legs will definitely feel it when I start running on land."

Surgery for a fractured ankle will sideline Daniel Merrett for up to four months.

Merrett landed awkwardly under a Jordan Roughead tackle during the third quarter of the Lions' clash with the Hawks before being stretchered off.

Daniel Merrett says he will need to adjust him game while remaining aggressive after being rubbed out for three matches for a sling tackle on Bomber Michael Hurley.

"There's no room for sling tackles in the game and I've learned that the hard way," Merrett said.

"I'll have to adapt the way I tackle and I've learned my lesson.

"That's (aggressive) how I've got to play. I'm a big bloke in the team and that's what I'm here to do. That's when I play my best footy, when I'm aggressive."

Brisbane defender Daniel Merrett accepts a three-match ban from the AFL's match review panel for rough conduct after knocking out Essendon forward Michael Hurley.

Daniel Merrett says he feels at home in the Lions' backline but is happy to move forward if required.

"I love playing in the backline, particularly with Joel Patfull and Matty Maguire … we've been playing down there for a while," Merrett said.

"But it's an ace up the club's sleeve if I can push forward and kick a few goals."

Daniel Merrett will more than likely finish his career with the Lions after signing a new three-year contract.

"As a Queensland boy, being able to call myself a Brisbane player for life, it's pretty amazing," Merrett said.

"I still feel like my best footy is ahead of me and I'm here to help this team get back to the finals.

"I can only see this team improving, particularly with so many good young players, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon early."

Daniel Merrett says life as the Lions' Mr Fix-It hasn't been all goals and good fun.

"I thought I'd found my spot at full-back and I'd stay there the rest of my career, then bang, things change and things happen and you find yourself in a different position," Merrett said.

"Initially I was a bit hesitant to change, that's just my personality, and being comfortable with the position I was playing.

"That's where the team needs me the most at the moment. It's probably where I started my career playing forward and in the ruck as well, so I kind of felt I'd gone back to the start again."

Brisbane Lions backman says his side can cope in the back half with regular full-back Daniel Merrett re-assigned to the forward line.

"It's very easy to look from the side and say 'Rodge' should be playing back but the guys down there, our backline, have held up reasonably well so far this year so it's given us that ability to play 'Rodge' in a different role," Drummond said.

"I know he loves being back there, and as a fellow defender it's great having him back down there. I guess it'll come down to match-ups and where it's best to use him week by week."

Key defender Daniel Merrett will be played up forward in the absence of captain Jonathan Brown.

"I still feel like I'm just doing a role for the team so I don't see it as a long-term thing, " Merrett said.

"But I'm just doing my role for the team, and where they need me most is up forward so I'll try my hardest to play that position and wait for the skipper to come back."

Lion Daniel Merrett may have kicked three against Carlton in the NAB Cup, but neither he nor Michael Voss expects the move forward to last.

"If he kicks 20 goals in two weeks I'll consider leaving him there," Voss said.

"We've got to be able to find what will work for us and how that forward dynamic works when we come into the early part of the season.

"Obviously he kicked his goals but his presence up there being able to crash some packs is what you need sometimes and he was able to do that for us."

Daniel Merrett has a hamstring injury but it shouldn't affect his preparations for round one of the premiership season.

"He did pull up earlier in the week with some hamstring soreness and obviously we want to be pretty precautionary with him at this point in time," Brisbane Lions football manager Dean Warren said.

"There's nothing serious but he'll probably miss a couple of weeks."

Brisbane Lion Daniel Merrett wants to play every pre-season match after recovering from a back injury that derailed his 2011 season.

"The body's good. I've got a bit better with my endurance and it's just getting that touch back now," Merrett said.

"That's what pre-season games will be all about ... getting that match intensity.
I'll try and play all pre-season games, which I'll be looking forward to."

Daniel Merrett knows he needs to adjust his game to cope with the demands of the modern-day full-back.

"You think as the bookends it's all about power and speed but you just need to get up and down the ground so much," Merrett said.

"If I go to a school clinic I tell the kids just to run, become a marathon runner and you'll be right. You have to be able to cover the ground these days.

"That's why the game is becoming so professional and that's what makes our sport so special, you can't just specialise in one area, you've got to be strong, you've got to be fit, you've got to be quick, and you've got to be able to take contact."

Key senior Brisbane Lions players including captain Jonathan Brown, Daniel Merrett, Simon Black and Jed Adcock will head to Arizona in November for altitude training.

"They've been around for a while and we can monitor their loads and we can change the stimulus of their training and break up pre-season training for them," Lions coach Michael Voss said.

"They're probably at a different stage to where a lot of our other guys are so we'll work them that way."

Key Lions defender Daniel Merrett faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines after scans revealed a fracture in his back.

"I felt that something wasn't right during one of the contests but was able to play on - I didn't think it was anything too serious," Merrett said.

"After the game, I felt a bit sore and went in for scans on Monday, which showed the stress fracture."

Daniel Merrett believes the AFL does not have to change its strict gambling guidelines, despite being linked to a recent betting plunge where a punter backed him to kick the first goal of the match in a game where he made a rare appearance in the Lions' forward line.

"A guy could come down and watch me training and then tell a few mates and it goes from there. I think everyone just needs to take a deep breath and common sense will prevail," Merrett said.

"I'd hate to get to the stage where we have to close our sessions because we're worried about someone putting a bet on. We love having our supporters at training and hopefully common sense prevails."

The Brisbane Lions will be missing five key players in their elimination final against Carlton.

Daniel Merrett (hamstring), Daniel Bradshaw (quad) and Jed Adcock (knee) will all be sidelined for at least another week, and are likely to be joined by Simon Black (hamstring) and Josh Drummond (quad) who were injured in their final regular season match against the Swans.

''All those players are probably registered down as 'test' but are fairly likely to be unlikely to play, so we've got to plan ahead without them there,'' Lions coach Michael Voss said.

''Normally I'd sit here and say they're 50:50 but they're probably less than that so there's no real point dragging out that process any longer than we need to. If they come up then good, but we're not expecting them to.''

Key Brisbane Lions defenders Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull will both be sidelined by injury for at least four matches.

Merrett has ligament damage in his right ankle while Patfull has a broken jaw.

Both players were injured during their clash against Adelaide.

Brisbane fullback Daniel Merrett received a timely compliment from Michael Voss.

"Rog is a powerful and agile unit and is actually one of the quickest players on our list," Voss said.

"I have no hesitation in plonking Daniel at the top of the goal-square whether he is playing on a tall or small opposition forward.

"He is versatile in that he can match the physical strength of Barry Hall one week and can also play on a medium-sized opponent playing out of the goal-square."

Brisbane Lions vice-captain Daniel Merrett isn't concerned by his limited preparation, or that of Simon Black and Jamie Charman, ahead of round one.