He married Minnie Ruth Duncan in 1917 at Redfern, New South Wales, and they had two children, John Robert and Kathleen Helen.
From 1930 to 1934 Merrick played in the Wednesday league for Yellow Cabs booting four goals in winning 1930 and 1934 Grand Final teams and two in the 1931 premiership loss.
[3] After missing out on the 1922 VFL Grand Final Merrick took a break from playing and began what was to become an intermittent umpiring career.
In early June Merrick resigned from Benalla and by the middle of the month had once again taken up the whistle, this time in the Barrier Ranges Football Association (BRFA).
It was an interesting selection given Merrick's relative inexperience against a list of applicants that included Les Netherton, a VFL umpire with 16 senior matches to his credit and a further 72 VCFL appointments over four seasons.
In a tit-for-tat affair the umpires' association withdrew its services for the round scheduled for 15 August and the Souths club refused to field a team.