Nick Murphy and Josh Thewlis named South Adelaide’s co-captains

NICK Murphy was crushed when he was dumped as South Adelaide skipper last season, but 12 months on he has bounced back as the Panthers’ new co-captain.

CRUSHED.

That is the first word that comes to Nick Murphy’s mind when he is asked to describe his feelings on being dumped as South Adelaide captain last season.

The Strathalbyn product had been appointed the Panthers’ youngest ever skipper in 2011, only for his teammates to overlook him for the role a year ago.

“I was crushed and I was distraught,” Murphy says.

“It was something I valued very highly and to find out I wasn’t adequate for the job at the time was a wake-up call.”

Twelve months on, Murphy, 24, has bounced back.

Last week, the Panthers named him as one of their co-captains, along with last season’s skipper Josh Thewlis.

Murphy’s elevation came after a peer vote at a Victor Harbor training camp and a concerted effort to improve his one-on-one relationships with teammates and assertiveness when pulling them into line.

“I’m really proud that I was able to bounce back, change some of the behaviours they wanted me to and regain the trust and respect of the playing group to regain the role.

“I’m really excited about it.”

Murphy dismisses any suggestion he was appointed too soon last time but says he is better equipped to handle the role this year.

“I’ve had experience of the two years and also the wake-up call of losing the captaincy (so) to improve from that failure has put me in really good stead for the season coming up and the rest of my career.”

Thewlis, 29, says he and Murphy will share the load and bring different qualities to the role.

“We’ll bounce a few things off each other and it’ll be good to have an ally in having hard conversations with people,” Thewlis says.