Zach Merrett has “pulled up really well” and is showing encouraging signs since suffering a concussion after colliding with Adelaide’s Richard Douglas on Friday night.
Merrett failed to return to the game after the knock in the first quarter and Douglas has since been suspended for one match – a ban he will challenge at the tribunal this week.
Essendon GM of Football Dan Richardson says the midfielder passed a cognitive test on Monday morning and would be in the mix to return to the side for Essendon’s clash against Fremantle on Saturday.
“The docs conducted a cognitive test on him today, which he actually passed, but that doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to play this week,” Richardson said.
“All of the signs are positive and we’ll just monitor how the week progresses.”
“I would suggest unless there’s some symptoms around not feeling quite right he should be right to play.”
Richardson said suggestions that Merrett had suffered three concussions in quick succession over recent weeks were false.
“I’ve heard those reports myself and that’s not correct. Aside from the weekend a couple of incidents we had were head knocks, but they weren’t concussions,” he said.
“One was actually more a migraine, which he does get from time to time. We need to be clear that it’s not three concussions in the short space of time that some media outlets are reporting.”
Merrett was unrestricted on Monday, training with the main group as he presses for a return to the team.
