Merrett polled 11 of a possible 15 votes — including three best-on-grounds — from five judges after finishing with 31 disposals, 10 contested possessions, eight tackles and six clearances.
Four of the five judges voted for Merrett, with only triple premiership Cat Cameron Ling leaving the Bombers star out of his votes.
Essendon v Collingwood LIVE with no ad breaks during play on Kayo | THURSDAY 3:20PM AEST | New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
Essendon teammate Andrew McGrath finished second with seven votes, while Collingwood star Nick Daicos was third with five votes.
“What a game,” Merrett told fans at the MCG post-match.
“Darcy, Craig — you guys are amazing. You’ve shown over the last 36 months you’re the best team in the competition. We love and respect you guys so much and we look forward to playing you again later in the year.
“To all the fans – Collingwood, Essendon, neutral – what an amazing day. We’re so grateful to be part of this special day in Australia’s history. Thank you so much for turning out live and watching on TV.
“To our boys, great fight. We took it up to the best team in the comp. We’ll learn a lot of lessons from that and come back better next week.”
Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis lauded Merrett’s performance.
“The Zach Merrett of old would always go against traffic to get possessions – and I’m glad he’s got that out of his game,” Lewis told Fox Footy post-match.
“A lot of his possessions now are facing towards goal. He clearly runs the angles and maximises his running patterns and has become a damaging player
“I love his leadership – I think that changed once Brad Scott came in, a little more unselfish.”
FULL ANZAC DAY MEDAL 2024 VOTES
Dale Thomas (Channel Seven – Chairperson)
3. Zach Merrett
2. Nick Martin
1. Nick Daicos
Eddie Betts (Fox Footy)
3. Zach Merrett
2. Nick Daicos
1. Andrew McGrath
Sarah Black (AFL Media)
3. Zach Merrett
2. Darcy Parish
1. Kyle Langford
Cameron Ling (ABC Sport)
3. Andrew McGrath
2. Nick Daicos
1. Kyle Langford
Andrew Wu (The Age)
3. Andrew McGrath
2. Zach Merrett
1. Nick Daicos
Final tally
11 — Zach Merrett
7 — Andrew McGrath
5 — Nick Daicos
2 — Nick Martin, Darcy Parish, Kyle Langford
Originally published as Full votes from Anzac Day thriller as Bombers skipper claims prestigious medal