Adelaide Crows greats divided on whether two will be better than one as Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane appointed as co-captains
Mark Bickley and Graham Cornes are firmly in the “yes” corner, Malcolm Blight says it will be interesting and inaugural captain Chris McDermott has questioned whether joint captaincy is the best thing for the Crows.
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Adelaide coach Don Pyke’s decision to anoint Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane as joint captains has brought mixed reaction from some of the club’s greatest names.
Firmly in the “yes” corner were dual premiership captain Mark Bickley and inaugural coach Graham Cornes while premiership coach Malcolm Blight and Chris McDermott suggested only time would tell if it would work.
Cornes was quick to respond to the announcement via social media.
“Outstanding decision by the Crows,” Cornes said. “Best of both characters. Great reward for both players.”
Bickley could see the reasoning behind the club’s decision.
The role was already taxing in his day, when he led Adelaide to consecutive flags in 1997 and 1998, and the demands on the role has only grown since then.
What’s more, Bickley felt both Walker and Sloane were natural leaders who could command the position in their own right; putting them together had been a logical move.
“I don’t think there’s any right or wrong,” Bickley said. “They are blessed to have two candidates who can comfortably captain the side.
“I think Don Pyke in his statement said that he was looking to lighten the load and it’s a fair point.
“The demands on the captain, particular last year … two heads are better than one, so to speak.
“I think it’s great.
“Sloane deserves it and at the same time I wouldn’t want to see Taylor out of the position.
“No doubt (the role has grown) and I think there’s an expectation from younger players that they want the captain to spend some time with them.
“But I’m of the position that there’s not a whole lot of difference between being the vice-captain (like Sloane was last year) and being the captain.
“But it’s an accolade that he deserves.”
Blight, the club’s only premiership coach, has never been afraid to explore new frontiers in football.
He said it would be captivating to watch how a joint captaincy would unfold during the year.
“I’ve always thought that if you have an outstanding leader, that’s fine,” Blight said. “But then I saw Sydney do it, have co-captains, and I think if you have the two right blokes, sharing the responsibility is not a bad thing.
“The more I look at it, I think, ‘maybe’.
“I’ve never been quite on the same page as that but I’m starting to understand why now.”
Chris McDermott, the club’s inaugural captain, said he could see the reasons for the move.
But he warned a lot of things had to go right for the union to work, not least having the two captains work closely together with a similar set of ideals.
“I understand it but I don’t like it,” McDermott said. “And again, I’ll preface that by saying I’m old-school but I think that they have to work very closely together and both be on exactly the same page because any difference of opinion, be it slight, can cause real confusion.
“I understand why the club did it, but think the captaincy, and I’ve always thought this, is one dog, one bone.”
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