Why the Crows and Power should look beyond the obvious in search for next skippers
PORT Adelaide and the Crows should look beyond their most obvious successors if Travis Boak and Taylor Walker pass on the captaincy after 2018, writes Warren Tredrea.
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PORT Adelaide and the Crows should look beyond their obvious successors if Travis Boak and Taylor Walker pass on the captaincy.
Make no mistake, off-season planning is underway after underwhelming seasons in 2018.
The discussion about who will lead the club will surely be raised. I get the feeling both clubs will want to sit back and discuss what the future leadership looks like.
Boak is Port Adelaide’s longest-serving captain having skippered the team for the past six years. He’s made no secret he’d like to one day hand the baton to someone else.
At Adelaide, Walker’s tenure as skipper has been regularly questioned after ongoing injuries and poor form in 2018, but he’s adamant he’s the right man for the job.
A captain has two main duties. Firstly, to play well on game day and lead by example, and secondly, to uphold the playing group standards both on and off the field.
At Port, Boak finds himself in unusual waters, when appointed to the role in 2013 he was clearly Port’s best player and most influential leader.
He carried the club on his back, returning the Power to finals football and in turn football relevance.
A lot has since changed for Boak. Now 30, he’s no longer an inside midfielder but is regularly playing at half-forward.
And while his form is solid, I get the feeling he’ll relinquish the famous number one guernsey this off-season and don his old number 10.
Ollie Wines has been earmarked as the heir-apparent, but I believe at 23 it’s still too soon for him to assume the role as captain — his time will come after gaining more experience.
Right now, Tom Jonas is Ken Hinkley’s ideal replacement should Boak step aside. Jonas is an old-school ruthless defender. He’s demanding of others both on and off the field, likeable and most importantly he calls it as he sees it.
Having taken his game to a new level in 2018, he’s also cut out the undisciplined acts and suspensions that have cost him and his club in the past while continuing to play hard and tough.
Over at West Lakes, the captaincy discussion is slightly different. Walker has had a year to forget.
Injured in the pre-season, he’s been chasing his tail ever since and the challenge for Tex is to get back to his best. His form is the only reason why he’s been questioning as captain.
And now with his season over after being suspended for two weeks, as soon as he can he must get away and recharge his batteries both mentally and physically so he returns refreshed for pre-season.
No doubt knowing Tex he will be hellbent on wanting to prove the doubters wrong in 2019.
But if for some reason he decides he wants to step down and would rather just play football without the captaincy pressures, I believe Daniel Talia is the man to take over, not vice-captain Rory Sloane.
Like Jonas, Talia is a ruthless competitor and is super demanding of his teammates.
We should not forget his 2014 best and fairest speech when he demanded his teammates show “more action rather than words” — he was also the one who called out teammates for being “a bit behind where we need to be” when discussing player fitness levels at the start of pre-season.
And at 26 he’s mature beyond his years while being two years younger than both Walker and Sloane.
Should both captaincies be available, both Adelaide teams would have two new men at the helm who are willing to challenge senior decisions at their club, something that must be done.
Great team leaders regularly challenge their coach — how else do you hold them accountable and improve?
In the off-season Boak and Walker will once again question themselves, asking “Am I the best person for the job and can I play my best as skipper?”
Only they will know the answer to that question.
As someone who gave up the captaincy two years before I retired, I can tell you there’s a great sense of relief that comes with stepping away from the most demanding playing role.
You can just play football without the extra leadership commitments, while experiencing a renewed feeling of being a rookie again.
I found the extra time a godsend to planning for my life after football and it revitalised my career in the process — all the while acting like I normally would by upholding the standards at training and voicing my opinions.
If the incumbents decide to step down, Jonas and Talia are the ideal replacements.