“I’ve come across some competitors in my time with a will to win. I haven’t come across anyone with more of a will to win than Zach,” Scott toldThe Age,prior to the Dons’ huge round one victory over Hawthorn.
“Now that is clearly an admirable trait – that desperation to win and trying to be demanding of your teammates,which to some extent is important.
“You walk a fine line ... because Zach can do things that not many players can do. If his expectations are that everyone should be able to perform to a level he can,then he’s going to be disappointed.”
Scott explained what the Bombers expected of Merrett as the new captain in a club seeking to change its culture.
“So it’s straddling that space between being a really supportive leader and challenging behaviour – that’s what we’re going to work on and we don’t expect Zach to be perfect in that space.
“What we’ve asked him to do is to role-model behaviour,to be an exceptional role model. And our coaches,me included,need to take a bigger responsibility in making sure that we’re enforcing the behaviours that we value.