Daniel Merrett (born 12 December 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (June 2016)

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Daniel Merrett
Merrett in March 2017
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Merrett
Nickname(s)	Sauce
Date of birth	(1984-12-12) 12 December 1984 (age 39)
Place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Original team(s)	Southport (QAFL)
Draft	No. 30, 2002 national draft
Height	195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	103 kg (227 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current club	Brisbane Lions (women's forwards coach)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2003–2016	Brisbane Lions	200 (70)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2020	Brisbane (women's)	1 (0–0–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2016. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of round 3, 2020.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

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Merrett was born in Adelaide, but moved to the Gold Coast with his family at a young age. A talented schoolboy rugby player for Benowa State High School,^[1] he was identified as a potential Australian rules footballer by AFL Queensland junior development scouts due to his imposing frame and ball-handling skills, and was groomed as a key forward with the Southport Sharks. He was recruited by the Brisbane Lions with the number 30 draft pick in the 2002 AFL Draft but took several years to develop sufficiently to make his debut.

Merrett made his AFL debut in Round 2, 2005 against Port Adelaide.

In 2009, Merrett appeared alongside other AFL footballers in an AFL television advertisement titled "AFL: In a League of its Own", which featured prominent AFL players playing Australian rules football at famous sporting venues around the world, and in the middle of other sports being played, including basketball, Association football and American football. In the advertisement, Merrett, along with James McDonald and Nathan Bock, unsuccessfully attempt to tackle Adam Cooney in a bullring.^[2]

In August 2016, he announced he would retire from the AFL at the end of the season.^[3]

He has been an assistant coach of the Lions' AFL Women's team since the inaugural season in 2017, and coached a game against Gold Coast in round three of the 2020 season when regular head coach Craig Starcevich was hospitalised. The game ended in a draw.

Daniel Merrett used to play as a full forward, centre half forward or half forward flank in his early career but eventually regularly played as a fullback. He was the defender with the most spoils in the 2007 season.

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