MERRYWEATHER, Andrew Verified listing

Andrew Merryweather played one game for Fitzroy in 1982, then spent three years playing for Ballarat before being recruited by Essendon in 1988 at the age of 27. He had been a member of Fitzroy's Under 19 team which lost the Grand Final to Carlton in 1979.

A key defender, he played the first five games of 1988 for Essendon then was dropped to the Reserves and never played League football again.

A schoolteacher, he moved to Sunbury and coached local players, including his sons and Geelong's Mark Blicavs. By the end of 2022, two of his sons, Cameron and Zach Guthrie, had played 230 and 54 games for Geelong. Mark, Cameron and Zach were all members of Geelong's premiership team in 2022. A third son, Josh, was drafted by Geelong as a rookie, but played no senior games; he later played for VFL team Coburg. Andrew's eldest son, Ben, was a reporter for the AFL's website.

Andrew used his step father's surname, Merryweather, during his playing career, but later changed back to his birth name, Guthrie, and his sons used the name Guthrie.