Zach Merrett, who at age 20 will serve as stand-in skipper of Essendon this weekend, is backing Dyson Heppell to captain the AFL club in 2017.Brendon Goddard is leading the Bombers because 12 of their players, including captain Jobe Watson, were given doping bans at the start of the year.Goddard suffered a groin injury last weekend and will miss his first game of the season on Sunday, when the Bombers host Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium.Coach John Worsfold opted to look to the future when picking Goddards replacement, asking the midfielder with 56 games experience to step up.A more-challenging question for Worsfold will come during the off-season, when he settles on a leadership group for next year.Watson is among the five banned Bombers yet to indicate whether they will return to the club.Even if Watson doesnt retire, there is a good chance Heppell will be given the gig.Its definitely something to aspire to but I think Dyson is probably the man for next year, Merrett said on Thursday.Hes been fantastic for this footy club.Dyson did his apprenticeship last year and I think hes ready to go.Merrett will be 20 years and 316 days old on Sunday when he tosses the coin, making him the third-youngest man to captain Essendon in VFL-AFL history.Bernie Quinlan holds the overall league record, having been 20 years and nine days when he was stand-in skipper of Footscray in round 18 of the 1971 season.Merrett plans to pick the brains of Heppell and Goddard, while mentor Chris Judd has also been a sounding board.Hes probably got a bit annoyed sometimes with the number of questions Ive asked, Merrett said of Judd.(Judds leadership advice was) to be myself. Be authentic and lead the way I normally lead. Not much is going to change.Its very exciting ... a very good opportunity.No other 20-year-old except for (Western Bulldog Marcus) Bontempelli, in the last probably five or 10 years, has had this opportunity.Meanwhile, Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell suggested the club would be willing to trade Michael Hurley but they expected the in-demand banned defender to recommit.Hurls is very close with his teammates; (there is a) strong association with that group. Theyve been through a very-challenging period together, Campbell told SEN radio. Nacer Chadli Jersey . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. Adnan Januzaj Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Laurent-Ciman-Belgium-Jersey/ . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. Youri Tielemans Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Dries Mertens Jersey . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. VAL DISERE, France -- Mathieu Faivre led a fierce French challenge on first-run leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria to win a giant slalom on Sunday for his first World Cup victory.Faivre secured the fastest second run to beat Hirscher, the five-time defending World Cup overall winner and a Val dIsere specialist, by 0.49 seconds.France placed four racers in the top five, roared on by a noisy crowd that sang the French anthem -- La Marseillaise -- when an emotional Faivre stood on the top step of the podium.Faivre had 0.01 to make up from the first leg, and the 24-year-old racers debut victory denied Hirscher a fifth GS win on this course since 2009.France team leader Alexis Pinturault was third, trailing 1.11 behind the winner. Teammates Thomas Fanara and Victor Muffat-Jeandet placed fourth and fifth.Hirscher has now lost to two Frenchmen in defense of his season-long giant slalom trophy after being runner-up to Pinturault in the season-opening race at Soelden, Austria.Faivre, a former world junior champion, has had three podium finishes in World Cup giant slalom in 2016 and Pinturault was alongside him each time.In what has become the France teams top event, its streak of placing at least one racer in the top-3 of mens giant slalom now extends to 14 World Cup races since March 2015.France also got its only Alpine skiing medals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in mens GS, when Steve Missillier and Pinturault took silver and bronze behind Olympic champion Ted Ligety.ddddddddddddLigety led a five-strong United States challenge on Sunday in 11th, 2.63 back. He had been the only racer other than Hirscher to win a Val dIsere GS in recent years.In his return to racing amid a dispute with Norways ski federation, Henrik Kristoffersen was eighth, trailing by 2.38.Kristoffersen, the World Cup slalom winner last season, skipped a slalom at Levi, Finland, last month to protest being blocked from wearing the helmet of a personal sponsor. The dispute is due in court.Hirscher restored some Austrian pride after the teams embarrassing showing in downhill on Saturday, when the traditional Alpine power placed no one in the top 15.He now leads the overall standings after just five races of the season. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway had been tied with Hirscher atop the overall standings but did not finish the first run Sunday after winning the downhill and super-G this weekend.Frances strong showing Sunday was fair reward for Val dIsere stepping in to host the three-race meeting at short notice. It was cancelled at Beaver Creek, Colorado, because of a lack of snow and warm temperatures.The mens circuit stays in Val dIsere next weekend when the highlight of two regularly scheduled races is a giant slalom on Saturday. Wholesale HoodiesNFL Shirts OutletJerseys NFL WholesaleCheap NFL Jerseys Free ShippingWholesale Jerseys CheapCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '